Solids and Unknowns Testing
With several different production sources and external injections of chemicals and fluids, unintended reactions and events take place resulting in solids, sludges, or emulsions. Many of these products are not easily recognizable or are a mixture of several different fluids and solids. Identification of the components of these materials is essential in finding it’s source and either removing or preventing the unkowns from continuing to occur in the systems.
X-Ray Fluorescence
X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) is a powerful tool to aid in determination of solids and sludge composition by identifying and quantifying elements from Sodium to Uranium on the periodic table in samples.
Solids Identification by Solvent Wash
Solids in the oilfield are prevalent and problematic. Identification of solids is the first step in removal and ideally, prevention of solids formation in systems. By applying several rounds of solvent soaks to solids in sequence, groups of solids such as oil soluble solids, weak acid solubles, and acid insolubles can be quantified. Oracle then utilizes physical observations and techniques to further narrow the solids to general compound groups.
FTIR Qualitative Matching
Identification of a substance or solid utilizing Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) allows for a qualitative matching against our customized libraries of oilfield chemicals, by-products and naturally occurring materials from drilling and production trains.
Chemical Analysis
Unknown chemical samples or identification of chemical contamination products can be identified utilizing FTIR as above, but also specific gravity, pH, viscosity and color. Oracle utilizes all of the above techniques to provide a comprehensive identification of probable contaminants or a qualitative check (QC) for products given specifications.