Analytical Methods in Petroleum Upstream Applications

Cesar Ovalles is Technical Team Leader at Chevron Energy Technology Company located in Richmond, California. He has a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Simon Bolivar University and Ph.D. in the same field from Texas A&M University. He worked for 16 years at Petróleos de Venezuela Sociedad Anónima-Instituto de Tecnología Venezolano del Petróleo (PDVSA–INTEVEP). In 2006, he joined Chevron to work in R&D in Petroleum Chemistry and characterization of heavy and extra-heavy Crude Oils and their fractions. He is also involved in new methods for analysis of asphaltenes and in R&D in the chemistry of heavy and extra-heavy crude oil upgrading processes. Carl Rechsteiner is the owner of CRechsteiner Consulting LLC in Petaluma, California, providing petroleum composition and measurement advice to industry. Following a four-year stint with Arthur D. Little Inc., Dr. Rechsteiner joined Chevron Research Company in Richmond, California, where he spent the next 31 years in a number of roles involving numerous measurement technologies for elucidating petroleum compositions. He managed many research and development projects that developed and implemented measurement technologies (especially in the chromatographic and spectroscopic sciences) across Chevron’s Global Downstream laboratory organization, and created an infrastructure to support data-rich process analyzers within Chevron’s operations.

Background Chapters. Petroleum Molecular Composition Continuity Model. Process and Laboratory Sampling for Analytical Systems: Similarities and Subtle Differences. Water Analysis. Advances in Oil-in-Water Monitoring Technology. Properties. Characterization of Athabasca and Arabian Light Vacuum Residues and Their Thermally Cracked Products: Implications of the Structural Information on Adsorption over Solid Surfaces. Analysis of Olefins in Heavy Oil, Bitumen, and Their Upgraded Products. Analytical Measurements. Advances in Gas Chromatography for Petroleum Upstream, Refining, Petrochemical, and Related Environmental Applications. Application of NMR Technology in Petroleum Exploration and Characterization. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Upstream Applications: Crude Oil Characterization, Water-Oil Interface Behavior, and Porous Media. Heavy Ends and Asphaltenes. On-Column Filtration Asphaltene Characterization Methods for the Analysis of Produced Crude Oils and Deposits from Upstream Operations. Asphaltene Adsorption on Iron Oxide Surfaces. Determination of Asphaltenes Using Microfluidics. Modeling and Chemometrics. Application of Data Fusion for Enhanced Understanding and Control. Application of Computer Simulations to Surfactant Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery. Understanding the Molecular Information Contained in the Infrared Spectra of Colombian Vacuum Residua by Principal Component Analysis.