Enhancement of aromatic and saturated hydrocarbon by modified column chromatographic technique

Abstract

Three sediment samples collected from the Qua Iboe River System and eighteen different column packing ratios of silica gel and alumina were used in this investigation. The variation of the composition of the stationary phase (silica gel and alumina, SA) gave different yields of aromatic and saturated hydrocarbons. In all the sediments, the SA(1:2) column length ratio eluted the highest amount of saturated hydrocarbon; sediment I, 287ppm; sediment II, 347ppm; sediment III, 337ppm. The modified SA(2:1) column length ratio eluted the highest amount of aromatic hydrocarbons, 119ppm for sediment I; 90ppm for sediment II and 123ppm for sediment III. The modified AS2:1 weight ratio eluted the least amount of saturated hydrocarbon, sediment I,19ppm; sediment II, 30ppm and sediment III, 20ppm while the SA1:1 weight ratio eluted the least amount of aromatic hydrocarbon, sediment I, 8ppm; sediment II, 3ppm and sediment III,12ppm. Generally, the packing by column length ratios eluted higher concentrations of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons than the packing by weight ratio and the difference is statistically significant. These differences in the yields of the aromatic and saturated hydrocarbons are due to differences in the relative adsorption of the aromatic and saturated hydrocarbons on the stationary phase and the moderating influence of the components of the stationary phase on each other.

Keywords: hydrocarbon, enhancement, column length ratio, weight ratio, adsorption

Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences Vol. 12(2) 2006: 193-197