29.06.2013 Views

View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

View/Open - ARAN - National University of Ireland, Galway

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Abstract<br />

Characterisation <strong>of</strong> crude oil properties in real-time by spectroscopic methods has<br />

been a major challenge to the oil industry. While current methods can show the<br />

presence <strong>of</strong> oil, a quantitative determination <strong>of</strong> oil physical and chemical properties<br />

has yet to be found. Also the mechanisms <strong>of</strong> oil photophysics are far from being fully<br />

understood. This thesis seeks to address these issues by two principle objectives.<br />

First, the determination <strong>of</strong> fluorescence lifetimes for crude oils by the Frequency<br />

Domain method and second, the analysis <strong>of</strong> the effects <strong>of</strong> dilution and temperature<br />

on the photophysical properties <strong>of</strong> crude oils.<br />

As a primary objective, a Frequency Domain (FD) method was developed to<br />

measure the fluorescence lifetimes <strong>of</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> crude oils. Analysis <strong>of</strong> the average<br />

lifetimes was made based on how many decay terms and the type <strong>of</strong> fitting model<br />

used. Correlations were made between the bulk chemical data for the oils and<br />

average lifetimes from distribution and discrete models. The FD method was then<br />

applied to the analysis <strong>of</strong> Hydrocarbon Fluid Inclusions (HCFI) where individual<br />

inclusions could be isolated and the average lifetime determined for the included<br />

oils. Comparisons were made between the lifetimes for the bulk oils and HCFI.<br />

The second objective <strong>of</strong> the thesis was to examine the effects <strong>of</strong> dilution and<br />

temperature on the photophysical behaviour <strong>of</strong> crude petroleum oils. Comparisons<br />

were made between lifetimes over the range <strong>of</strong> temperatures sampled and differences<br />

between dilute and neat average lifetime values gave estimations <strong>of</strong> quenching effects.<br />

Lifetimes were monitored over a range <strong>of</strong> temperatures and were found to follow a<br />

simple Arrhenius-like behaviour. A modified Stern-Volmer quenching model could<br />

be applied to the crude oil lifetime data showing the presence <strong>of</strong> both static and<br />

dynamic quenching and the calculated quenching rate constants have been found<br />

to vary linearly with oil type. Neat and dilute oils also followed a reverse Eyring<br />

i

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!