Abstract

In this study, analytical characteristics of S gas detection technique were investigated against four major reduced S compounds (including hydrogen sulfide; methyl mercaptan; dimethyl sulfide (DMS); and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS)). To analyze such properties, an analytical system was constructed by combining the GC/PFPD system with the loop injection method. The results of our analysis indicated that response behavior of S gases differs greatly between compounds; H2S exhibited the weakest sensitivity of all compounds, while DMDS with two S-atom compounds the strongest sensitivity. To learn more about their response behavior on GC/PFPD method, their calibration patterns were compared using the three arbitrarily set concentration ranges of low, intermediate, and high. The results showed that calibration patterns of each compound are distinguished because of different factors. There was a line of evidence that calibration of H2S was affected noticeably by adsorptive loss within the system, whereas those of DMS and DMDS were influenced most sensitively by such factor as the linearity response at a given PMT voltage setting. The overall results of our study suggest that quantification of malordorous S compounds require a better knowledge of compound-specific response behavior against GC detection.