SIMULTANEOUS MULTIELEMENT ANALYSIS OF SAUDI-ARABIAN PETROLEUM BY MICROEMULSION INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY (ICP/MS)

Traces of Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn, Fe and Co are determined by ICP/MS in Saudi Arabian crude oil from four different producing fields. A microemulsion procedure for sample pretreatment and standard addition method using oil soluble salts of trace elements are applied. Accuracy and precision data showed percentage relative standard deviation to be less than 5% and percentage recovery values ranging from 97-102.5% for all trace metals. The micrcoemulsion as sample pretreatment proved to be a better technique in comparison to other sample introduction methods.