Automated potentiometric determination of sulfur functional-groups in fossil-fuels

Abstract

A fully extended description is given of an automated setup to monitor H2S continuously in a sensitive, qualitative, and quantitative way. H2S is led by a stream of N2 into an alkaline solution and is continuously determined as S2- by a potentiometric detection system. The H2S detection system has been applied to the temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) of fossil fuel samples. The TPR procedure consists of the non-isothermal heating of a sample in a reducing atmosphere, in order to liberate the different sulfur functional groups as H2S at discrete temperature ranges. In this way a better insight can be provided into the structural characteristics of organic sulfur in fossil fuels and related products.