The goal for this study was to find out how well a two-dimensional gas chromatograph with mass spectrometric and flame ionization detectors (GCxGC-MS/FID) could be used for the needs of an oil refining company. There has been a lot of development with comprehensive GCxGC in recent years, in order to gain new methods to analyse more complex sample matrices. The one-dimensional GC is still far more used technique but it simply cannot analyse very well those complex samples that have a lot of co-eluting particles within it. The GCxGC allows separation in two dimensions and helps to solve some of these problems.
Usually comprehensive GC is coupled with either a FID or MS. FID especially is widely used in petroleum chemistry due to its very good response factor to hydrocarbons, which are the primary compounds in petrochemical samples. The goal was to study if these two detectors could be coupled within the same apparatus. The gas stream would be split with a Y-connector, so the data from both detectors could be acquired simultaneously. The main goal was to find right parameters for different types of sample matrices. Some templates were also created, which are used in quick data handling to extract results out of the chromatogram.
