Reliable fluid characterization that confirms accuracy and optimizes decisions
Our restoration process is an imperative initial step in the laboratory because fluids must be heated to above reservoir temperature and rocked back and forth to redissolve any precipitated asphaltene and wax particles that may have deposited into solution during sample shipment.
After sampling conditioning and restoration, a subsample of each equilibrated live fluid is subjected to compositional analysis to C30+ using an equilibrium flash procedure.
Accurate prediction of flow assurance challenges that lead to cost-effective design of development scenarios is of paramount importance in the production of paraffinic (waxy) crude oils. Such oils often exhibit deposition tendencies, elevated viscosity, and gelling phenomena.
Reliable fluid characterization of paraffinic oils requires a precise and accurate understanding of the compositional makeup of the waxy components of produced fluids and their deposits.
High-temperature gas chromatography quantitatively and qualitatively resolves the complete n-paraffin distribution of a crude oil, its deposited fractions, or both. High-temperature gas chromatography analysis is the accepted industry standard for rigorous compositional characterization of waxes. Results of analyses are key inputs to simulation and correlation tools for thermodynamic, rheologic, and depositional predictions.
High-temperature gas chromatography features a licensed process for concentrating dilute heavy molecular-weight components through a sequence of physical fractionation steps. This process enables achievement of a 0.1-ug/g resolution limit by weight for paraffin species to a maximum carbon number of 90. The high-temperature gas chromatography service complements a full suite of physical property characterization services for waxy fluids, including wax appearance temperatures, rheological profiles, deposition rates, pour points, and gel strengths, all of which can be directly evaluated under realistic physical and compositional production conditions.
