Analysis of corrosion inhibitors, used in fertilizers industry, by high performance liquid chromatography - electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Abstract

Liquid fertilizers are stored, manufactured, and transported in metallic tanks which can completely corrode if corrosion inhibitor is not added. Corrosion inhibitors form a protection layer which protects metallic surface from corrosion. The use of these protecting compounds in fertilizers industry has a huge economical importance. Depending on the chemical origin of fertilizers, different composition corrosion inhibitors are used. Usual ingredients of corrosion inhibitors are fatty acids, amines, surfactants, glycols. Amines are very difficult to analyze by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), because they strongly interact with column packing and separation of compounds becomes impossible. In order to determinate these compounds a derivatization is needed. Fatty acids and surfactants can be separated by HPLC-MS without any derivatization. In some cases, when the mixture is not complex (contains up to 5 compounds) it is useful to apply direct injection electrospray ionization and mass spectrometry (ESITOF- MS). It provides a possibility of direct injection and covers a broader scope of analytesBiochemijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta