Shodex Column Recommendations for Cleanup and Separation of Sulfonated PAH Isomers in Produced Water

Record: 688

Category: Column Selection
Product: EV-2000 AC, DE-413
Sample: Produced Water

Question
A customer needs guidance on sample cleanup and HPLC column selection for analyzing mono- and di-sulfonated isomers of naphthalene and anthracene in oil-well produced water.

Key details:

1. Matrix contains petroleum contaminants and high salt
2. Detection mode: fluorescence
3. Target concentration: 1–1000 ppt
4. Need to remove ionic/water-based impurities and concentrate analytes
5. Oil-phase contaminants will be manually removed
6. A new HPLC system will be purchased
7. Isomer resolution is required

The customer asks which Shodex columns are appropriate for sample cleanup and analytical separation.

Answer

1. Sample Cleanup for Produced Water

For ppt-level sulfonated PAHs in petroleum-contaminated produced water, Shodex recommends the CLNpak EV-2000 AC GPC cleanup column.

EV-2000 AC is designed for environmental and residue-type matrices and efficiently removes petroleum residues, oils, lipids, and other high-molecular-weight contaminants. With acetone as the mobile phase, hydrophobic components are dissolved and removed while low-molecular-weight sulfonated PAHs elute in the collected fraction. This fraction can then be concentrated to improve fluorescence detection and preserve the analytical column.

GPC Cleanup Example Application

2. Analytical Separation Using RSpak DE-413

For separating sulfonated naphthalene and anthracene isomers, the recommended analytical column is RSpak DE-413.

DE-413 is a polymer-based reversed-phase column with polarity similar to ODS columns. It offers:

• A wide pH range (pH 2–12)
• Compatibility with 100% aqueous mobile phases and buffer solutions
• Strong retention of aromatic compounds
• High chemical stability for environmental sample matrices

These features make DE-413 well suited for separating PAH-type aromatics and their sulfonated derivatives, especially when isomer resolution is required. Shodex has a direct application supporting this mode of separation:

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons – DE-413

This demonstrates effective reversed-phase separation of PAHs on a DE-series column and supports its use for sulfonated PAH isomers.

Additional Comments

Download or Print PDF