Laser-induced Fluorescence with Multivariate Analysis in Characterizing Crude Oils from Some Selected Oil Fields in Ghana

Abstract

Developing scientific practices and procedures for finding the characteristics of various crude oils from different geological sources based on fluorescence spectra fingerprints would be beneficial to the petroleum industry. Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) has gained relevance worldwide because of its advantages in crude oil analysis. Presently, the use of this technique in the characterization of crude oils from the oil fields in Ghana has not been studied. The study employed the LIF technique to determine some physical qualities of crude oils from Jubilee Oil Field, Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme (TEN) Oil Field and Saltpond Oil Field. Specifically, this study used multivariate analysis methods to link the spectral signatures of the crude oils to their properties for identification and classification. The LIF technique was applied on four crude oil samples. Fluorescence spectra were obtained using a continuous wave 405.0 nm laser. The excitation source revealed five (5) peak wavelengths after deconvolution. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), the crude oil samples were classified accurately.