Analysis of phenols in pyrolysis oils by gel permeation chromatography andmultidimensional liquid chromatography

A simple method with minimal manual sample preparation was developed for th e analysis of phenols in pyrolysis oils. Sample pre-treatment was done by g el permeation chromatography (GPC), where the high-molecular-mass lignins w ere separated from the phenols. Multidimensional liquid chromatography (LC- LC) was used in the analysis of the phenolic fraction. The pre-column was u sed for sample clean-up and pre-fractionation before introduction of the ph enolic fraction to the analytical column. The repeatability and linearity o f the total GPC and LC-LC methods were excellent. The results were in accor dance with the reference method in which the sample pre-treatment was done by precipitating the lignins with water, and the phenols were extracted wit h toluene and analysed by CC-MS. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.