Site analysis system for the calculation of the isotope ratio of carbon in several gas species by means of a single analyser

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system of analysis, which can be used in a mobile laboratory in a drilling site situation or in a similar situation, suitable for measuring (preferably in relation to at least two partially gaseous species, which derive preferably from a mixture extracted from a drilling mud, for example, methane, ethane, propane and/or any other heavier hydrocarbons) the quantities of the different isotopes of at least a same chemical element (preferably the quantities of ¹³C, carbon isotope with 6 protons and 7 neutrons, and of ¹²C, carbon isotope with 6 protons and 6 neutrons, respectively) by means of a laser isotopes analyser regulated for a single, at least partially gaseous species which contains said chemical element.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of the priority filing date in Italian patent application no. MI2011A001647 filed on Sep. 14, 2011. The earliest priority date claimed is Sep. 14, 2011.FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH[0002]NoneSEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM[0003]NoneSTATEMENT REGARDING COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL[0004]Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0005]The present invention relates to a system of analysis, which can be used in a mobile laboratory in a drilling site situation or in a similar situation, suitable for measuring (preferably in relation to at least two at least partially gaseous species, which...

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Benefits of technology

[0013]Therefore, an important object of the present invention is that of providing an instrument with which it is possible to send single gaseous species extracted from a mixture which flows continuously, to a laser analyser at sufficiently large intervals of time, and which can rapidly conclude the entire cycle of analysis for all the gaseous species of interest in order to perform several analyzes in real time. Thanks to the particular configuration given here to the gas chromatograph, the gaseous species to be analysed are sent to the isotope analyser at sufficiently

Problems solved by technology

However, instruments of this type are not suitable for site analysis because of their dimensions and because they have to be used in particular environmental conditions free from vibrations and with stable temperature and pressure.

However, because this instrument is configured in such a way that the laser spectrometer is able to quantify the relative abundance of the two stable isotopes of the carbon only in a single hydrocarbon species, it is not possible to analyse, the relative abundance of the two stable isotopes of the carbon also in other hydrocarbon species in a single analysis cycle and without modifying the configuration of the same laser spectrometer.

In fact, the operation of changing the configuration of the analyzer leads to an unacceptable discrepancy between the analysis and the current depth.

Such an operation would take too much time for numerous analyses, which cannot be prolonged excessively because the analyses have to be correlated to the depth in approximate real time considering that the mi

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