Natural Radionuclide Analysis on Crude Petroleum from Some Oil Fields in Ghana

The petroleum industries benefit immensely from developing scientific processes and procedures that determine characteristics of crude oils and distinct them. This is because crude oils are acquired from various geological sources and each sedimentary rock has its own distinct chemical properties that affect extraction, refinery and environmental safety. Extraction of crude oils may result in exposure of some radionuclide elements from sedimentary rocks into the environments. This nuclear exposure may affect lives and can cause ecological imbalance. Applications of gamma emission spectroscopy has grown rapidly around the world because of its accurate measurement and precision. Such technique has not been applied for the study of naturally occurring radionuclide materials (NORMs) in crude oils from the active oil fields in Ghana. The study employed the use of gamma spectroscopic technique for characterization of crude oil samples from Jubilee Oil Field, Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme (TEN) Oil Field and Saltpond Oil Field. The technique was applied on four crude oil samples. The results of this paper actually report on radionuclide concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials in four crude samples using a Gamma-Ray spectrometer. Three radionuclides, radium-226 (226 Ra), thorium-232 (232 Th) and potassium-40 (40 K), were identified from each crude sample (JF, TF SF-1 and SF-2). It was observed that samples from Saltpond Oil Field estimated the highest activity concentration and the least was crude oil from Jubilee Oil Field. The activity concentration values were far less than the approved values by International Atomic Energy Agency for basic safety standard. Therefore, the radionuclides activity concentration values of crude oil samples from Jubilee, TEN, and Saltpond oil fields were within the basic safety standards exemption levels of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The crude oils from the oil fields can therefore be considered safe to handle. Also, the results of the activity concentrations from the sample used for this study indicate that crude petroleum from the oil fields may relatively have little nuclear activity impact to ecology and human health. The result of this study may be adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Petroleum Stakeholders of Ghana for development of petroleum geo-radionuclides radiation safety measures.

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Naturally occurring radioactive materials and related hazard indices in Ahdeb oil field

Iraqi Journal of Physics (IJP) ◽

10.30723/ijp.v13i27.275 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (27) ◽

pp. 164-173

Author(s):

Zainab Mohammed Hassan

Keyword(s):

Crude Oil ◽

Activity Concentration ◽

International Comparisons ◽

Oil Field ◽

Oil Fields ◽

Hazard Indices ◽

Radioactive Materials ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials ◽

Crude Oil Sludge

In this work, measurements of activity concentration of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) isotopes and their related hazard indices for several materials such as crude oil, sludge and water in Ahdeb oil fields in Waste governorate using high pure germanium coaxial detection technique. The average values for crude oil samples were174.72Bq/l, 43.46Bq/l, 355.07Bq/l, 264.21Bq/l, 122.52nGy/h, 0.7138, 1.1861, 0.601 mSv/y, 0.1503mSv/y and 1.8361 for Ra-226, Ac-228, K-40, Ra eq, D, H-external and H-internal respectively. According to the results; the ratio between 238U to 232Th was 4, which represents the natural ratio in the crust earth; therefore, one can be strongly suggested that the geo-stricture of the Ahdeb oil fields dose not contents any kind of rocks. Although the results indicate the rising in the activity concentration of NORM isotopes, the national and international comparisons proved that it is still in the world range limits.

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

Physical Science International Journal ◽

10.9734/psij/2021/v25i630262 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 8-20

Author(s):

Calvin Kwesi Gafrey ◽

Robert Wilson ◽

George Amoako ◽

Benjamin Anderson

Keyword(s):

Multivariate Analysis ◽

Crude Oil ◽

Fluorescence Spectra ◽

Continuous Wave ◽

Laser Induced Fluorescence ◽

Oil Field ◽

Oil Fields ◽

Crude Oils ◽

Scientific Practices ◽

Linear Discriminant

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.

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