VOLATILITY OF HIGH BOILING ORGANIC MATERIALS BY A FLAME IONIZATION DETECTION METHOD

A method is described for the convenient and rapid estimation of the volatility of high boiling organic materials. The apparatus consists basically of a sample furnace connected directly to a hydrogen flame ionization detector. Vapor pressure curves can be obtained over the range 0.1 to 5000 millitorr using either isothermal or programmed heating. These measurements are made with a small amount of material contained in a flow-through sample probe designed to allow saturation of nitrogen carrier gas with sample vapors. The results for cetane agreed with literature values within 5%. The equipment is versatile, also permitting volatilization curves to be obtained by heating in a small sample pan to yield information on relative volatility, thermal decomposition, and carbonaceous residue. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.