DOHA: Total Research Centre Qatar (TRC-Q) has applied for a new patent in the domain of Geochemistry. The patent will allow a quick, reliable and automatic recognition of biomarkers in petroleum. Biomarkers are hydrocarbon molecular fossils. They are present in trace amount in oils, whose precursors were formed by single cells or organisms having lived and sedimented in lakes or on the sea floor. In some cases, these organic-rich layers have been deposited more than one billion years ago.
According to the very specific origin of these molecules, their carbon skeleton carries a lot of information: on the source and age of petroleum, on its temperature of formation and on the phenomena having altered petroleum, along its history.
The inventor — Daniel Dessort, Project Leader in Geochemistry at TRC-Q said: “Biomarkers are real time machines for explorationists! A reliable identification process of these molecules is thus necessary for getting their fingerprint embedded within a complex hydrocarbon mixture”.
Initially developed for addressing petroleum issues (exploration, production, well integrity, etc), this new innovation could be applied to any complex mixture analysed by gas chromatography (for example: Fragrances and environmental applications).
Philippe Julien, TRC-Q Director, said: “This is the first TRC-Q application for a new patent. But this will not be the last one. We are currently developing very innovative technologies for the Oil and Gas industry. But these new techniques also present an interest for other industries, including the space industry. Contacts have been taken with Universities working with Nasa and CNES (French National Centre of Space Studies). No doubt that this very high level research contributes to a knowledge based economy which is promoted in the Qatar National Vision 2030.”
The Peninsula
