High Temperature Simulated Distillation of Bitumen Fractions with Open Tubular Capillary Columns Depleted in Silicone/Siloxane Stationary Phases

High Temperature Simulated Distillation (HTSD) is routinely carried out in petroleum laboratories for characterization of heavy hydrocarbon fractions. However, thermal cracking from HTSD high operating temperatures (up to 430 °C) has been reported to affect analytes during the chromatographic process. This work showed the feasibility of using silicone/siloxane depleted stationary phase wide bore capillary columns for HTSD carried out under lower setup temperatures to avoid cracking. Sequential low temperature elution for analysis followed by high temperature oven cycles for injector cleaning were found mandatory for successful operation. Depleted stationary phase metal capillary columns were determined as a feasible interesting alternative, advantageous from the point of view of column life span and retention times constancy. Present findings suggest that these columns can have useful life in the greater than or equal to a year span. Heavy hydrocarbon upgrading monitoring with standard and depleted statio...