Counter-current chromatography for oil analysis: Retention features and kinetic effects

Application of counter-current chromatography (CCC) for oil analysis has been suggested for the first time. CCC looks very promising as a tool for pre-concentration and isolation of trace elements from oil. Features of stationary phase retention of two-phase liquid systems (oil or oil products–aqueous nitric acid solutions) in CCC have been investigated. The influence of physicochemical properties of crude oil and oil products used as a mobile phase on the volume of stationary phase (acidic aqueous solutions) retained in CCC was studied. Chromatographic behavior of several oil samples was studied. It has been shown that physicochemical properties of test oil influence its chromatographic behavior. Optimal values of density and viscosity (ρ < 0.85 g/cm3, n < 7 cSt) of crude oil and oil products that could be analyzed using CCC were estimated. The influence of the column rotational speed and flow rate of mobile phase on the stationary phase retention was also investigated. It is known that kinetic aspects (mass transfer of elements between phases) can play a very important role in selecting an optimal composition of stationary phase for the pre-concentration of elements from oil. The influence of nitric acid concentration in the stationary phase on mass transfer was studied. Kinetic characteristic for trace element recovery has been investigated for the optimization of pre-concentration conditions of trace elements from crude oil and oil products. The extraction recoveries of Zn, Mn, Fe, Ni, V, Cu, Cd, Pb and Ba by CCC in dynamic mode are in the range of 75–95% while they are lower than 35% under batch conditions.