Feasibility of preparing and analyzing gas standards containing heavy hydrocarbons (C10-C16)

State and federal agencies are beginning to monitor ambient air for compounds related to diesel exhaust. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was asked to develop standards containing heavy (C10-C16) alkanes which could then be used in air monitoring and exhaust studies. Several primary gravimetric standards, containing heavy (C10-C16) alkanes in nitrogen, were developed and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) with flame-ionization detection (FID). The results of this research indicate that accurate gas standards containing these hydrocarbons can be prepared. However, the analytical results show that the temperature of the transfer system from the gas cylinder to the GC column (including the gas-sample valve) must be heated in order to prevent adsorption of these compounds within the analytical system. The results indicate that even at elevated temperatures these compounds are being absorbed within the system. The results show that quantitative results cannot be obtained by using one compound such as hexane, as an internal standard to determine the concentration of other hydrocarbons. Quantitative and accurate results are best obtained if standards for each hydrocarbon of interest are used to determine concentrations of unknowns for the respective hydrocarbon.