Determination of rare earth elements in Niger Delta crude oils by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Abundances of rare earth elements in crude oils and their partitions in water

“…The difficulty in measuring the concentrations of REE in crude oils lies in the separation of REE from crude oils (Akinlua et al, 2008;Takeda and Arikawa, 2005). If organic matter is not perfectly decomposed, the residual organic matter can have harmful effects on the measurement of REE by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS); (i) introduction of organic matter into the ICP-MS leads to the formation of carboncontaining ions such as C 2+ , CO 2+ and ArC + (Lord, 1991); (ii) some carbon-bearing materials can be deposited at the interface into the mass spectrometer of the ICP-MS; (iii) high viscosity and boiling point of crude oils lower their atomization efficiency.…”

“…However, the existing quantum of REE data of crude oil samples is still insufficient. Complete REE patterns are neither reported by Akinlua et al (2008) nor by Takeda and Arikawa (2005). Here we report REE abundances measured in crude oils from the Xingiang Province, China to provide more data towards the building of a database on REE abundances of crude oils.…”

“…These properties enables REE pattern to be a useful effective geochemical tracer (Henderson, 1984). Recently, Zhang et al (2009) suggested that REE patterns of crude oils could provide genetic information on the oils, while Akinlua et al (2008) noted that REE contents of oils are useful in the classification of oils. However, the existing quantum of REE data of crude oil samples is still insufficient.…”

Behavior of Oil–Aqueous Solution Systems in Rotating Coil Column

“…Limit and optimal values of density and viscosity of the analyzed sample could be calculated by formulas (1) and (2). It was shown that oil/oil products with ρ < 0.90 g/cm 3 and η < 7. of ρ and η should be doped or diluted with low density and viscosity ultrapure solvents (such as 2, 2, 4-trimethylpentane (isooctane) or hexane - Table 2).…”

“…Information about trace elements concentration is increasingly important not only for oil production and refining technology, but also for characterization of crude oil types, for fixing theirs prices and for reconnaissance investigations [1][2][3].…”