DETECTING GAS COMPOUNDS FOR DOWNHOLE FLUID ANALYSIS USING MICROFLUIDICS AND REAGENT WITH OPTICAL SIGNATURE

• Main Authors: HARRISON CHRISTOPHER, LAWRENCE JIMMY, ANGELESCU DAN E, SCHROEDER ROBERT J, SULLIVAN MATTHEW T, YAMATE TSUTOMU, VAN HAL RONALD E.G, RAGHURAMAN BHAVANI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 28.10.2010
• Subjects: EARTH DRILLING; EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS; MINING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR ASLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS

A gas separation and detection tool for performing in situ analysis of borehole fluid is described. The tool operates by introducing a reagent to a test sample and causing the resulting mixture to flow through a microfluidic channel where optical testing is performed. The optical testing detects a change in a characteristic of the reagent in response to expose to one or more particular substances in the test sample. The test sample may be borehole fluid, a mixture of borehole fluid and scrubbing fluid subsequently mixed with reagent, a mixture of reagent and gas separated from borehole fluid, or a mixture of scrubbing fluid and gas separated from borehole fluid which is subsequently mixed with reagent. A membrane may be employed to separate one or more target gasses from the borehole fluid.