Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy for hydrocarbon trace gas detection and petroleum exploration

Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy for hydrocarbon trace gas detection and petroleum exploration

Ethane

Hydrocarbons

Methane

Methane isotopes

Propane

Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy

Trace gas sensing

Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy represents a valuable candidate for natural gas analysis in the oil & gas field. The core element of this spectroscopy technique is a quartz tuning forks, employed as high quality-factor optoacoustic transducers, capable of operating in a wide range of temperatures and pressures. The robustness and compactness of these sensors, together with the possibility to avoid the use of optical detectors, open the way to the development of a new generation of small-sized gas spectrometers to be potentially employed downhole for source rock characterization and estimation of oil & gas properties. We report here on the realization of a shoe-box sized quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy system capable of: i) selective detection of methane and ethane in the parts-per-billion range, and propane in the parts-per-million range, by employing a single interband cascade laser emitting at 3.345 µm

ii) selective detection of 12CH4 and 13CH4 isotopes at the parts-per-billion sensitivity level by employing a quantum cascade laser operating around 7.73 µm.

118118

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Sampaolo, Angelo

Menduni, Giansergio

Patimisco, Pietro

Giglio, Marilena

Passaro, Vittorio M.N.

Dong, Lei

Wu, Hongpeng

Tittel, Frank K.

Spagnolo, Vincenzo

Fuel

2020

journalArticle

0016-2361

10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118118

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016236120311145