First-Ever Mobile System for In Situ Acquisition of Isotope Data on Natural Gas

72417S03-I As conventional hydrocarbon reserves in the United States become more difficult to find and extract, and as dependence on basin-center gas, deep tight-sand reservoirs, and coal-bed gas increases, new technologies to explore and produce them become more crucial. New techniques in petroleum geochemistry, including a means for characterizing natural gas via compound-specific isotope analysis by tandem gas chromatography-combustion-isotope-ratio mass spectrometry, have contributed significantly to the exploitation of these unconventional reserves. However, wide application of this critical technology has been limited by the fact that, heretofore, the technique could not be ported to the field setting for real-time data acquisition. This project will develop and deploy a previously designed, gas chromatograph-combustion-isotope-ratio mass spectrometer system for deployment in the field. The system not only will be compact, lightweight, rugged, and mobile, but also will have a streamlined isotope data acquisition process, essentially bringing an entire stable-isotope geochemical lab to the well site. Phase I will entail fabricating a gas chromatograph-combustion-isotope mass spectrometer interface, which will be linked at the front end to a micro-gas chromatograph and at the back end to a scaled-down mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer, along with the data processing software, will be customized for the new system. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: The natural gas characterization system should have a significant impact on the petroleum exploration and production industry, allowing for more effective and timely decisions based on data received in real time during drilling. Eventually, this mobile gas chromatograph-combustion-isotope-ratio mass spectrometer system would become a permanent "tool" used during routine well drilling and hydrocarbon assessment.