Fluorescence method of quantifying hydrocarbons, including crude oil, dispersed in water
AssigneeTexaco Inc.
InventorsLawrence R. Morrow, Wilson K. Martir, Hossein Aghazeynali
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method to determine the amount of oil, including dispersed oil, in water at low levels wherein a surfactant is first mixed with water which may contain dispersed oil, the surfactant comprising a non-aromatic surfactant able to solubilize into water the particular oil being tested for, and comparing the emission fluorescence of the surfactant/water mixture to previous correlations drawn between known amounts of oil in water and their emission fluorescence under similar conditions.
Claims9
A method to determine the amount of hydrocarbon, including dispersed oil, in water at ppm levels, which comprises:
- mixing surfactant with water which may contain dispersed hydrocarbon,
- said surfactant comprising a non-aromatic linear alcohol having about 10 to about 15 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain, about 3 to about 10 groups of ethylene oxide, and able to solubilize into water the particular oil being tested for;
- exciting the mixture of surfactant and water in a fluorometer at an excitation wavelength between about 200 and about 400 nanometers;
- determining the amount of dispersed oil in the water by comparing the emission fluorescence of said mixture to previous correlations,
- said previous correlations drawn between known amounts of oil-in-water and their emission fluorescence under similar conditions.
A method to determine the amount of dispersed oil in a produced water stream at ppm levels, which comprises:
- mixing about 0.3% to about 0.7% by weight of a non-aromatic surfactant with a produced water stream which may contain dispersed oil, said surfactant being a linear alcohol having about 10 to about 15 carbon atoms in an alkyl chain, about 3 to about 10 groups of ethylene oxide, and able to solubilize into water the oil being tested for;
- exciting the mixture of surfactant and water in a fluorometer at an excitation wavelength between about 200 and about 400 nanometers;
- determining the amount of dispersed oil in the water by comparing the emission fluorescence between about 250 and about 600 nanometers of said mixture to previous correlations,
- said previous correlations drawn between known amounts of oil in a produced water stream and their emission fluorescence under similar conditions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.