The Use of Microemulsions for the Extraction and Simultaneous Preconcentration of Maltenes as Potential Chemical Markers to Identify Hydrocarbon Deposits

Abstract

The possibility of using microemulsions as extractants during the extraction of chemical markers from oil samples and their subsequent preconcentration by the decomposition of microemulsions and determination of oil components by the gas chromatography-mass-spectrometry method is shown. Due to hydrophobicity, oil components pass into the organic phase after the decomposition of microemulsions and become concentrated due to the reduction of the volume of one of the phases. It is shown that as the preconcentration of the precipitant increases, the preconcentration coefficient of the chemical markers grows to 8–10. The method itself is characterized by low detection limits, good selectivity, and reproducibility.