Using Distillation Column Simulation Software For Use In Essential Oils

By Author: Separation Systems, Inc
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Anyone seeking information about essential oil quality soon learns about the existence of gas chromatography (GC) testing. Gas chromatography is used in the analysis of air-borne pollutants, performance enhancing drugs in athlete's urine samples, oil spills, as well as essential oils in perfume preparation.

The main purpose of a GC process is to separate compounds so that we can then study them independently from the others. As essential oils are made of dozens, often hundreds of molecules, it is not surprising that gas chromatography is so fundamental in quality control. Many in the aromatherapy community consider the use of distillation column simulation software to be virtually the only analytical method for essential oils. It is indeed the core of any valuable quality control procedure applied to essential oils. This means you need to learn all you can about how it works!

GC separates a large number of molecules in a reasonable timeframe. It's not all good news, though. Gas chromatography is limited by the fact that its operation relies on gases. This means ...
... that the molecules being separated must be gaseous. In plants, most compounds, for example sugars and pigments, are not volatile. Their boiling point is so high that they usually degrade due to high temperatures before becoming gases. All is not lost, though! Essential oils are, by nature, composed of molecules that are volatile, and so readily shift to a gas phase. This type of chromatography is thus the most logical choice to study essential oils.

What has to be kept in mind is that on its own, a GC instrument only separates molecules and then releases them. It gives no information on what they are, and how much of each compound is present. This is where helpful additions like a distillation column design software and a detector come into play.

If there is nothing at the end of a GC instrument, the compounds are simply released from the chromatographic column into the air, separated from each other. This is useless! We want to know what these molecules are and how much of each is present. The experiment separates, and then the software and detector allows for analysis of the data. This is the complete puzzle.

Upon entering the detector, molecules are broken down into fragments. These are then individually sorted according to their mass and counted. The whole process is very quick. In fact, it is repeated several times per second. That's fast! Depending on their structure, molecules will yield different fragments. The end result is a mass spectrum that recaps the proportions of all mass fragments observed at one point in time by the detector. Think of it like a fingerprint. This makes it a powerful tool to identify compounds.

Hopefully, this quick breakdown has given you a deeper understanding of what the GC technique is all about in regards to how it can be used in the essential oil industry. It is an excellent tool to identify volatile molecules. In fact, most in the industry consider it a cornerstone of essential oil analysis!