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Oil in Water
To minimise and control contamination of the marine environment caused by offshore installations, Oil Pollution and Prevention Control (OPPC) Regulations limit oil discharged to sea. Oil in produced water discharged to sea must be monitored to ensure the limits are not breached. Failure to meet regulatory limits (or to carry out the analysis) can lead to financial penalties for operators.
Oil in Water Analysis
Until recently, oil in water was measured using the DTI method based on Infra Red (IR) determination. However, in order to use non-chlorinated solvents, a new Oslo Paris Commission (OSPAR) oil in water method was introduced in 2007. This method, ISO 9377-2 modified by OSPAR, involves extraction with n-pentane and analysis by GC-FID. This method is difficult to implement in an offshore environment due to the cost and complexity of the instrumentation and the need for cylinders of hydrogen. This has resulted in OSPAR accepting alternative methods, with the condition that the “alternative” method be calibrated against the official OSPAR method. These calibrations can be difficult and time consuming to establish and implement.
The OPPC regulations also require biannual analysis of produced waters for each off shore installation. Target analytes include:
- Total aliphatics
- Total aromatics
- Total hydrocarbons
- BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl benzene and Xylene)
- NPD (Naphthalene, Phenanthrene, Dibenzothiophene)
- PAHs
- Organic acids
- Phenols
- Heavy metals
What Can SGS Provide?
- One-Stop-Shop Management of oil calibration, instrumentation and analytical services.
- Determination of oil in water using the OSPAR method (ISO 9377-2 modified by OSPAR).
- UKAS 17025 accredited laboratories.
- Calibration of “alternative” methods against the OSPAR method.
- Onshore calibration of IR instruments for use off shore.
- Biannual analysis of produced water.
- Offshore chemists for sampling and analysis of produced water.
- Technical and consultancy services for sampling, analysis, validation and reporting issues.
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