There is a strong need for rapid profiling for wellhead crude oil. QA-UK is working with Total E&P to develop a powerful new tool with application in off-line near-real time and in-line real-time analytics.
The composition of petroleum products determines the upstream (production) and downstream (processing) behaviour, product yields and quality, which all affect the economic value of the crude oil. Even more urgently, wellhead engineers and scientists often need to know the details of oil as it appears, and are often required to cease production while analytics are performed. Wellhead analytics therefore carry a very large added-value to the efficient operation of a production platform.
Petroleomics started from the premise that the development of better technology requires the detailed identification of petroleum species in order to characterise and therefore elucidate reactivity.
The RPP project is underway in Total’s labs. One patent is being filed and two more are in preparation.