1 / 43

SPME Coupled with GC-FID for the Detection of n-Propyl Alcohol and Its Use as a Geothermal Tracer

SPME Coupled with GC-FID for the Detection of n-Propyl Alcohol and Its Use as a Geothermal Tracer. Michael Mella 1,2 1 Energy and Geoscience Institute - University of Utah, 2 Chemical Engineering Department – University of Utah Senior Projects Lab I - 2006. Why n-propanol?.

yosefu
Download Presentation

SPME Coupled with GC-FID for the Detection of n-Propyl Alcohol and Its Use as a Geothermal Tracer

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. SPME Coupled with GC-FID for the Detection of n-Propyl Alcohol and Its Use as a Geothermal Tracer Michael Mella1,2 1 Energy and Geoscience Institute - University of Utah, 2 Chemical Engineering Department – University of Utah Senior Projects Lab I - 2006

  2. Why n-propanol? • Liquid phase only tracers and vapor phase only tracers are in common use • Two-phase tracers are needed to better trace water • n-Propanol has a similar partition coefficient to water, similar two-phase characteristics to water

  3. Objectives • Lab work - Develop an analytical method to reduce the limit of detection of n-propanol • Field work - Validate method with a field test

  4. Lab Development • Solid Phase MicroExtraction (SPME) was used to help lower the limit of detection over previous methods by 30 fold • Gas Chromatography with a Flame Ionization Detector used to analyze n-propanol solutions

  5. SPME basics • A flexible fiber coated with 85µm thick Carboxen/PDMS layer • A needle that houses the fiber and an injection assembly

  6. GC analysis • Needle injected into 300°C GC inlet • Separation by HP-5 capillary column • Detection by FID • Analysis of signal using HP-CHEM software

  7. Analytical method results • Limit of detection at 1 ppb • Reduction by a factor of 30 from previous methods • Lower limit of detection means less n-propanol needed for test • Method can be extended to other alcohols and aldehydes

  8. Objectives • Lab work - Develop an analytical method to reduce the limit of detection of n-propanol • Field work - Validate method with a field test

  9. Field test • Injector 34-9RD2 of Coso East Flank tagged with 165 gallons n-propanol • Samples taken from surrounding East Flank producers

  10. Field Work • Alcohol returns • Comparison with a liquid tracer test

  11. Alcohol returns • Raw results • E(t) scaled results and recovery • Liquid phase tracer results

  12. Alcohol returns • Raw results • E(t) scaled results and recovery • Liquid phase tracer results

  13. E(t) • E(t) residence-time distribution function • E(t) is a way to normalize for mass of tracer injected and flow rates • E(t) required for future assessment of return data, an example is the convolution integral and tracer recovery

  14. Tracer Recovery • Use E(t) to calculate the amount of tracer recovered in both the liquid phase and the vapor phase.

  15. Alcohol returns • Raw results • E(t) scaled results and recovery • Liquid phase tracer return

  16. Liquid phase tracer return • 2 months prior 100 kg 1,3,5-NTS injected into 34-9RD2 • Samples from the same area were taken and analyzed by HPLC with a fluorescence detector

  17. Return comparisons • Normalized n-propanol and 1,3,5-NTS return curves were plotted together with a common x-axis of days after their respective injection date.

  18. Return comparisons • Tracer recovery of n-propanol = 3.5% • Tracer recover of 1,3,5-NTS = 74.8%

  19. Conclusions • Similar arrival times for 1,3,5-NTS and n-propanol in well 38C-9 • Appearance of n-propanol in 38D-9 but not 1,3,5-NTS • 38B-9 seems to have been “skipped” by both tracers • Less return of n-propanol than of 1,3,5-NTS

  20. Conclusions • Similar arrival times for 1,3,5-NTS and n-propanol in well 38C-9 • Appearance of n-propanol in 38D-9 but not 1,3,5-NTS • 38B-9 seems to have been “skipped” by both tracers • Less return of n-propanol than of 1,3,5-NTS

  21. Conclusions • Similar arrival times for 1,3,5-NTS and n-propanol in well 38C-9 • Appearance of n-propanol in 38D-9 but not 1,3,5-NTS • 38B-9 seems to have been “skipped” by both tracers • Less return of n-propanol than of 1,3,5-NTS

  22. Conclusions • Similar arrival times for 1,3,5-NTS and n-propanol in well 38C-9 • Appearance of n-propanol in 38D-9 but not 1,3,5-NTS • 38B-9 seems to have been “skipped” by both tracers • Less return of n-propanol than of 1,3,5-NTS

  23. Conclusion • Lab work - n-propanol is appropriate as a geothermal tracer in smaller volume by using SPME-GC-FID • Lab work - Alcohols can be a powerful tool in determining two-phase pathways in reservoirs

  24. Acknowledgements This work was supported by grants from the Department of Energy. Done with the support of Coso Operating Company, LLC; and the Geothermal Program Office of the Naval Air Weapons Station.

  25. Acknowledgements Peter Rose1, Nick Dahdah1, Michael Adams1, Jess McCulloch2, Cliff Buck2, and G. Michael Shook3 1 Energy and Geoscience Institute – University of Utah 2 Coso Operating Company – Catihness Energy LLC 3 Idaho National Laboratory

  26. References Adams, M.C., Yamada, Y., Yagi, M., Kondo, T., and Wada, T. (2000), “Stability of Methanol, Propanol, and SF6 as High-Temperature Tracers,” World Geothermal Congress p. 3015-3019 Adams, M.C., Yamada, Y., Yagi, M., Kasteler, C., Kilbourn, P., and Dahdah, N. (2004), “Alcohols as Two-Phase Tracers,” Proceedings, Twenty-Ninth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering Fogler, H.S. Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering. 3rd Edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999, chapter 13. Fukuda, D., Asanuma, M., Hishi, Y., Kotanaka, K. (2005), “Alcohol Tracer Testing at the Matsukawa Vapor-Dominated Geothermal Field, Northeast Japan,” Proceedings, Thirtieth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering

  27. References Mella, M.J., Rose, P.E., McCulloch, J., Buck, C., Adams, M.C., Dahdah, N.F. (2006), “The Use of n-Propanol as a Tracer at the site of the Coso Engineered Geothermal System,” PROCEEDINGS, Thirty-First Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering Stanford University,SGP-TR-179 Rose, P.E., Mella, M.J., Kasteler, C. (2003), “A New Tracer For Use in Liquid-Dominated, High-Temperature Geothermal Reservoirs,” GRC Transactions, 27, pp. 403-406 Supelco (2003), Chromatography Products for analysis and Purification. Supelco p. 348-358

  28. Questions?

More Related