APPLICATION OF THE SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION TECHNIQUE IN GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR OIL AND GAS

The densities of supercritical fluids are 100 to 1 000 times as much as the densities of gases.Their viscosities are 10 to 100 times less than that of liquids.And their coefficients of diffusion are 10 to 100 larger than that of liquids.A supercritical fluid is easy to penetrate the media and can achieve selective separation on hydrocarbons.Moreover,supercritical fluid extraction can basically remove the harm of organic solvents to human and environment.Generally,the process of supercritical fluid extraction only take 10 to 60 minutes.An existing oil and gas area in a oil field was selected where research on supercritical fluid extraction was made.The result shows that fidelity of the extracted hydrocarbons is high.The comparison between supercritical fluid extraction and the other indicators in petroleum geochemical exploration is possible.Supercritical fluid extraction can supply oil and gas geochemical exploration with reliable information.