High pressure and high temperature chromatography
First Claim
1. A system for high pressure gas chromatographic analysis of a fluid sample, the system comprising:
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted for deployment in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
a fluid collection system for obtaining the fluid sample downhole;
a mobile gas phase of a controllable mobile gas phase source in communication with a controllable expander injector coordinately maintains the fluid sample at pressures similar to a pressure of the subterranean rock formation from which the fluid sample was collected;
a flowpath adapted to flow the mobile gas phase and the fluid sample at pressures above 20 atmospheres and at ambient temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius and the controllable expander injector is adapted to convert the fluid sample into a gas phase to inject the fluid sample into the flowpath as a gas;
a separation column adapted to operate at high pressures, forming part of the flowpath downstream of the controllable expander injector, for separating a plurality of components within the fluid sample;
a detector located downstream of the separation column, measuring at least one property of the gas, thereby generating measurement data representing properties of at least one component of the fluid sample, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are housed within the tool housing and adapted to operate at pressures approximate to the incoming downhole pressure of the fluid sample from which the fluid sample was collected; and
a processor adapted to calculate from the measurement data a value relating to the amount of at least one component of the fluid sample.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and related systems are described for high pressure chromatographic analysis. The described system includes a flowpath adapted to flow a mobile phase and the sample at high pressures, an injector adapted to inject the fluid sample into a flowpath, a separation column adapted to operate at high pressures for separating various components, a detector and a processor that calculates the amount of at least one component of the fluid sample. The system can operate a pressures above 20 atm or even 100 atm, and temperatures above about 100 degrees Celsius. The system can deployed in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation, and include fluid collection system for obtaining the fluid sample downhole. The system can also be located close to a wellhead and includes a tap in fluid communication with a surface flowline carrying produced fluids and the injector.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. A system for high pressure gas chromatographic analysis of a fluid sample, the system comprising:
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted for deployment in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
a fluid collection system for obtaining the fluid sample downhole;
a mobile gas phase of a controllable mobile gas phase source in communication with a controllable expander injector coordinately maintains the fluid sample at pressures similar to a pressure of the subterranean rock formation from which the fluid sample was collected;
a flowpath adapted to flow the mobile gas phase and the fluid sample at pressures above 20 atmospheres and at ambient temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius and the controllable expander injector is adapted to convert the fluid sample into a gas phase to inject the fluid sample into the flowpath as a gas;
a separation column adapted to operate at high pressures, forming part of the flowpath downstream of the controllable expander injector, for separating a plurality of components within the fluid sample;
a detector located downstream of the separation column, measuring at least one property of the gas, thereby generating measurement data representing properties of at least one component of the fluid sample, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are housed within the tool housing and adapted to operate at pressures approximate to the incoming downhole pressure of the fluid sample from which the fluid sample was collected; and
a processor adapted to calculate from the measurement data a value relating to the amount of at least one component of the fluid sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted for deployment in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
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12. A method for high pressure gas chromatographic analysis of a fluid sample containing a plurality of components, the method comprising the steps of:
- obtaining the fluid sample with a fluid collection system utilizing a pressure balanced tool housing in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
using a mobile gas phase of a controllable mobile gas phase source in communication with a controllable expander injector that coordinately maintains the fluid sample as pressure similar to a pressure of the subterranean rock formation from which the fluid sample was collected;
flowing the injected fluid sample through a separation column;
detecting a property of the fluid sample in the flow path with a detector thereby generating measurement data; and
calculating from the measurement data a value relating to the amount of at least one component of the fluid sample, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are housed within a tool housing and adapted to operate at pressures approximate to the incoming downhole pressure of the fluid sample from which the fluid sample was collected. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- obtaining the fluid sample with a fluid collection system utilizing a pressure balanced tool housing in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
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22. A system of for high pressure chromatographic analysis of a fluid sample, the system comprising:
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted for deployment in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
a fluid collection system for obtaining the fluid sample downhole;
a mobile gas phase of a controllable mobile gas phase source in communication with a controllable expander injector coordinately maintains the fluid sample at pressures similar to a pressure of the subterranean rock formation from which the fluid sample was collected;
a flowpath adapted to flow a mobile phase and the fluid sample at pressures above about 20 atmospheres;
controllable expander injector adapted to convert the fluid sample into a gas phase to inject the fluid sample into a flowpath as a gas;
a separation column adapted to operate at pressures above about 20 atmospheres, forming part of the flowpath downstream of the controllable expander injector, for separating a plurality of components within the fluid sample, wherein the separation column is not a packed column; and
a detector located downstream of the separation column, the detector adapted to measure properties of the fluid sample, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are housed within the tool housing, and adapted to operate at pressures approximate to the incoming pressure of the fluid sample from which the fluid sample was collected. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted for deployment in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
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29. A system for downhole chromatographic analysis of a fluid sample, the system comprising:
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted to be deployed in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
a fluid collection system for obtaining the fluid sample downhole;
a mobile gas phase of a controllable mobile gas phase source in communication with a controllable expander injector coordinately maintains the fluid sample at pressures similar to a pressure of the subterranean rock formation from which the fluid sample was collected;
a flowpath adapted to flow the mobile gas phase and the fluid sample at pressures above 20 atmospheres and at ambient temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius, and the controllable expander injector is adapted to convert the fluid sample into a gas phase to inject the fluid sample into the flowpath as a gas;
a separation column forming part of the flowpath downstream of the controllable expander injector, for separating a plurality of components within the fluid sample; and
a detector housed within the separation column located downstream of the separation column, the detector adapted to measure properties of the fluid sample, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are housed within the tool housing and adapted to operate at pressures approximate to the incoming downhole pressure of the fluid sample from which the fluid sample was collected. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted to be deployed in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
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36. A system for chromatographic analysis of a fluid sample at high ambient temperatures, the system comprising:
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted to be deployed in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
a fluid collection system for obtaining the fluid sample downhole;
a mobile gas phase of a controllable mobile gas phase source in communication with a controllable expander injector coordinately maintains the fluid sample at pressures similar to a pressure of the subterranean rock formation from which the fluid sample was collected;
a flowpath adapted to flow the mobile gas phase and the fluid sample at pressures above 20 atmospheres and the controllable expander injector is adapted to convert the fluid sample into a gas phase to inject the fluid sample into the flowpath as a gas;
a separation column forming part of the flowpath downstream of the controllable expander injector, for separating a plurality of components within the fluid sample; and
a detector located downstream of the separation column, measuring at least one property of the gas, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are all adapted to operate at ambient temperatures above 75 degrees Celsius, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are housed within a tool housing and adapted to operate at pressures approximate to the incoming downhole pressure of the fluid sample from which the fluid sample was collected. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
- a pressure balanced tool housing constructed and adapted to be deployed in a wellbore in a subterranean rock formation;
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42. A method for chromatographic analysis of a fluid sample at high temperatures, the method comprising the steps of:
- converting the fluid sample into a gas phase with a controllable expander injector to inject the fluid sample as a gas into a high pressure flowpath, wherein the flow is adapted to operate at pressures above about 20 atmospheres and operate at ambient temperatures about 100 degrees Celsius;
flowing the injected fluid sample through a separation column;
controlling the temperature of at least the separation column such that the initial temperature of the separation column when the fluid sample enters the separation column is at least 100 degrees Celsius, and the temperature is substantially increase while at least part of the fluid sample remains within the separation column; and
detecting a property of the fluid sample in the flow path with a detector thereby generating measurement data, wherein the flowpath, the controllable expander injector, the separation column and the detector are housed within the tool housing and adapted to operate at pressures approximate to the incoming downhole pressure of the fluid sample from which the fluid sample was collected. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
- converting the fluid sample into a gas phase with a controllable expander injector to inject the fluid sample as a gas into a high pressure flowpath, wherein the flow is adapted to operate at pressures above about 20 atmospheres and operate at ambient temperatures about 100 degrees Celsius;
Specification