Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.50, No.21, 12217-12224, 2011
Analysis of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage Produced Water using Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry
The recycling of water coproduced during in situ bitumen production is one of the primary operating challenges for steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations in oil sand reserves. Produced water that is either recycled for steam production or disposed of may be subject to different water quality requirements for the purposes of plant operations or environmental regulations. The organic components dissolved and suspended in the produced water are a fingerprint of the bitumen-in-place, the processing conditions utilized during production, and the chemicals used by operators during operations. Analysis of SAGD produced water using two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with electron ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2DGC-TOFMS) showed a wide variety of organic constituents within the water sample. Compounds ranging from C6 to C18 straight chain and branched aliphatics to more polar, water-soluble, oxygen- and sulfur- heteroatomic species were tentatively identified. Methyl- and ethyl-phenols were prevalent constituents eluting in the heteroatomic region of the chromatographic contour plot. Sample extraction conditions that enhanced partitioning of polar organic species resulted in a significantly larger amount of compounds being detected by this approach. These results show how this Method is complementary to more widely used analytical techniques, which cannot provide a comprehensive view of the broad range of compounds within oilfield produced water using a single method.