What is it about?
H-shaped tetraacids with 80 carbon atoms can block petrolum production facilities even when present at low concentration (<30ppm). This paper describes how we can determine the content in black oils using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry.
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Why is it important?
Production stoppage due to blockages is inefficient and costly to industry. Detrmination of C80 tetraacid content enables companies to implement mitigation plans.
Perspectives
C80 tetraacids are thought to derive from microbial lipids so their presence in crude oil is interesting from a geochemical perspective as well as an industrial one. At present we do not understand what the distribution of tetraacids is telling us about their source organisms, environment or geological processes, but if we can measure them then we can start to try and answer such questions.
Dr Paul A Sutton
University of Plymouth
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Determination of the Content of C80Tetraacids in Petroleum, Energy & Fuels, September 2014, American Chemical Society (ACS),
DOI: 10.1021/ef5012337.
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