A system and method for compositional analysis of a process stream in an industrial process transports a liquid process stream through an absorption/desorption packed column (A/D column), along with a carrier gas. A gas phase combination of the carrier gas and one or more solutes from the liquid process stream is passed out of the A/D column to a flow cell for analysis by an analyzer to determine presence and concentration of the one or more solutes within the gas phase. A processor uses the concentration of the solutes within the gas phase to perform a headspace analysis to determine the concentration of the solutes in the process stream.