Extraction of Amines in Drilling Fluids By Solid-Phase Microextraction Coupled to GC/MS

Amine inhibitors are used in the petroleum industry to prevent or slow the corrosion reactions in downhole oil production. These inhibitors are pumped into the pipes with greases and lubricants for corrosion prevention and acid gas neutralization. A rapid method for amine determination in drilling fluids can be employed in this analysis. Solid-phase microextraction, SPME, involves the use of adsorption of analytes to a fiber coated with liquid phase chemistry. Once analytes have reached equilibrium with the liquid phase, the fiber is removed from the sample and presented to a gas chromatograph. The analytes are desorbed in the unit until a second equilibrium is obtained. This process can be automated and used with complex matrices as seen in the petroleum industry. Linearity and method detection limits will be discussed.