Throughout the last decade many energy companies have become interested researching and developing alternative fuels. Wasson-ECE has partnered with companies to assist in meeting the analytical needs and addressing the unique chromatography challenges that comes with analyzing these complex streams. One of the most difficult processes to analyze is the gasification of organic materials using pyrolysis.

There are several unique challenges in performing analysis for this industry segment. During the pyrolysis process, reactor effluent streams can reach 600 ̊C. This poses significant problems chromatographically, as these temperatures exceed the maximum temperature limits of the materials used to construct GC components. While cooling the stream and condensing the heavies is an option, there is concern that the composition can change due to reactions that occur in the liquid phase. Users desire to keep as much of the stream vapor phase as possible, in order to better understand the fundamental chemistry occurring.

To meet the specific needs of one customer, Wasson-ECE designed a solution that incorporated a high temperature sampling system with multiple gas chromatograph platforms to analyze various off gas streams. This system included two separate GC systems working in conjunction to provide a complete overview of the process. The first system was configured with a Flame Ionization Detector and two Thermal Conductivity Detectors to measure the light hydrocarbons and permanent gases present in the stream. The second system was configured with a Flame Ionization Detector and a mass selective detector to measure heavy aromatics, oxygenates and sulfur containing species.

In the end, the customer was able to evaluate the critical analytes of interest even with the extreme temperature challenges of the reactor streams. This challenge for the Wasson-ECE team was a good opportunity to partner with our customers to solve analytical problem.