CPC G01N 21/64 (2013.01) [G01N 1/38 (2013.01); G01N 33/18 (2013.01)] | 10 Claims |
1. A method of determining a partition coefficient of a tracer, the method comprising:
measuring optical properties of tracer solutions comprising varying concentrations of a tracer;
providing a reference curve based on the measured optical properties of the tracer solutions;
forming a mixed emulsion by mixing a pulse of crude oil and an aqueous solution comprising a known concentration of the tracer, wherein the mixing comprises:
injecting the pulse of crude oil into a first inlet of a microfluidic chip using a first syringe pump, and
injecting the aqueous solution into a second inlet of the microfluidic chip using a second syringe pump;
the method further comprising demulsifying the formed mixed emulsion into an oil component and an aqueous component by flowing the formed mixed emulsion through a membrane separator;
sending the oil component or the aqueous component to an optical measurement system external to the microfluidic chip; and
measuring a component optical property of the oil component or of the aqueous component using the optical measurement system, the component optical property comprising a ultraviolet visibility or a fluorescence intensity, wherein the component optical property is indicative of a concentration of the tracer in the oil component or of a concentration of the tracer in the aqueous component;
determining a partition coefficient of the tracer based on the measured component optical property and on the reference curve.
|