Objective

To describe the analysis of volatile sulfur compounds in natural gas as fully defined in ASTM test method D 5504-94.
The ASTM method provides for the determination of individual volatile sulfur-containing compounds in gaseous fuels
including natural gas.
Conclusion
The Sievers Sulfur Specific Analyzer (SSA 5504) provides an easy, reliable and repeatable way for quantifying sulfur
compounds, such as odorants in natural gas.
Discussion
The ability to identify, quantify and report natural and odorant sulfur compounds is of critical importance to natural
gas utilities worldwide. The following chromatogram demonstrates how natural and added odorant sulfur compounds
may be separated by the SSA.
Sulfur compounds are added to natural gas for safety. In fact, government regulations mandate that this be done
1
. The
odorizing and other chemical characteristics of mercaptans, also known as thiols, and organic sulfides make them the
ideal choice in this role. Typically, gas companies will use a mix of odorants for this purpose. Usually the blend
Sievers SSA 5504 Analysis of Odorants and Other Sulfur
Compounds in Natural Gas
Chromatogram
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Column Characteristics:
60 meter, 0.53 mm ID, 7 micron Restek MXT-1

Oven Temperature: 100 C

100 L Sample Loop
Run Time of 10 minutes
Typical data for the SSA over a 24-hour period show a stability
of < 5% Relative Standard Deviation with a sensitivity of < 0.5
picograms Sulfur/sec.
Run times of less than 10 minutes are typical for odorant
analysis applications.
Time - Minutes
consists of several mercaptans and /or sulfides with specific desired characteristics. Moreover, all gas utilities must be
able to demonstrate compliance with government regulations concerning odorant addition. The SSAs ability to
speciate, quantify and report odorant levels objectively provides added assurance that natural gas utilities are, in fact,
meeting their compliance concerns.
Maintaining a stable level of odorant and high odorant cost and are important industry issues. The SSAs linear
response over four orders of magnitude gives gas utilities a valuable tool for detecting wide variations in odorant
levels. The ability for gas utilities to accurately separate and quantify added odorant is also useful for quality
assurance.
Identification and quantification of naturally occurring compounds are important to natural gas utilities as well. For
example, many sulfur compounds are corrosive to equipment and can destroy catalysts used in downstream
processing. The SSA detects naturally occurring compounds like hydrogen sulfide and carbonyl sulfide with the same
ease as odorant sulfurs.
Other Sulfur Measurement Methods
Other detection methods exist for sulfur analysis. One common technique is the Lead Acetate Rate of Stain Detector.
In this method, sulfur compounds are reduced to hydrogen sulfide.
The H
2
S then reacts with lead acetate on a tape to form colored lead sulfide. An optical measurement (transmission or
absorption) is then taken of the resulting stain. This method lacks sensitivity and broad linearity.
Another common method is the use of a Flame Photometric Detector. The FPD is an example of an add-on detector
used in conjunction with a standard gas chromatograph. This relatively old method, is particularly susceptible to
hydrocarbon noise and quenching. Therefore, when measuring trace levels of sulfur in natural gas, hydrocarbon
quenching becomes a major concern.
A new version of the FPD is the Pulsed Flame Photometric Detector (PFPD). The PFPD, like the FPD, is a GC
detector. The PFPD, while demonstrating some performance gains, still exhibits the basic characteristics of all FPDs;
such as non-linearity, low selectivity, non-equimolar performance, and hydrocarbon quenching.
The SSA overcomes all of the problems presented by other detection methods by using patented Sulfur
Chemiluminescence Detector (SCD) technology. The SCD method is inherently linear and equimolar over a wide
range (4 orders of magnitude) of detection. The SCD technology is also over 10 million times more sensitive to sulfur
than hydrocarbons. This makes it an ideal choice for the analysis of trace sulfur in a natural gas matrix. The SSA 5504
is a stand-alone sulfur analyzer, providing a turnkey solution to natural gas utilities.
References
1
49CFR192.625, Oct.1, 1999
For more information
We welcome your feedback and questions. Please contact Ionics Instruments at 800-255-6964 or
marketing@IonicsInstruments.com.
Ionics Instrument Business Group
6060 Spine Road
Boulder, CO 80301
Phone (800) 255-6964 Fax (303) 444-9543
www.IonicsInstruments.com
MC01-057
Printed in USA 2001