Control of Oil-in-Water using 3D Spectroscopy

During oil and gas production large amounts of water are coproduced. One of the biggest environmental concerns in offshore production is safe disposal of this water. In most fields water is treated and discharged to sea. This water carries small amounts of dissolved and dispersed oil (OiW). The OiW content is regulated and may in the North Sea not exceed 30 mg/L. Measuring OiW on-line for monitoring and control and optimization of water treatment is challenging due to signal complexity and matrix sensitivity. Most fluorescence based commercial OiW sensors apply a simplistic approach to the nature of crude oil fluorescence, which is difficult to trust in monitoring-control settings.  In this project an advanced fluorescence based measurement device is developed. We use our in-depth understanding of the complex fluorescence signals of crude oils in solution and dispersion, map the entire fluorescence topography and apply a combination of optical approaches and advanced data analysis to optimize the signal output. The large data set obtained in each time step is reduced to meaningful input to control water treatment systems and further reduced OiW. The aim is a working prototype that will be tested under realistic flow conditions before launching the product.