THE 2-D ION CHROMATOGRAPHY DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION: DETERMINATION OF SULFATE IN FORMATION WATER AT PRE-SALT REGION

Abstract:

Formation water is the naturally-occurring water which is contained within the geological formation itself. The quantity and quality of the formation water can both be problematic. Over time, the water volume should decrease as the gas volumes increase. Formation water has been found to contain high levels of Cl, As, Fe, Ba, Mn, PAHs and may even contain naturally occurring radioactive materials. Chlorides in some cases have been found to be in excess of four-five times the level of concentrations found in the ocean. Within the management of well operation, there is sulfate between the analytes of greatest importance due to the potential for hydrogen sulphide formation and consequent corrosion of pipelines. As the concentration of sulfate in these waters can be less than n times that of chloride, a quantitative determination, using the technique of ion chromatography, constitutes an analytical challenge.

This work aimed to develop and validate a method for the determination of sulphate ions in hyper-saline waters coming from the oil wells of the pre-salt, using 2D IC. In 2D IC the first column can be understood as a separating column, in which the species with retention times outside a preset range are discarded, while those belonging to this range are retained in a pre-concentrator column to further injecting a second column, the second dimension in which occurs the separation and quantification of the analytes of interest.

As the chloride ions have a retention time lower than that of sulfate, a method was developed a for determining sulfate in very low range (mg L^-1) by 2D IC, applicable to hypersaline waters, wherein the first dimension is used to the elimination of the matrix, ie, chloride ions, and the second dimension utilized in determining sulfate. For sulphate in a concentration range from 1.00 mg L^-1 was obtained an accuracy of 1.0%. The accuracy of the method was tested by the standard addition method different samples of formation water in the pre-salt region, having been a relative error less than 1.0% at a concentration of 5.0 mg L^-1.This work allowed the expected achievement of sulfate results for hyper-saline samples such as those found in the pre-salt exploration. Studies are being developed in order to validate the determination of bromide in the pre-salt water, using the 2D liquid chromatography.