Microsystem With Fluidic and Optical Interface for Inline Measurement of ${\rm CO}_{2}$ in Oil Fields

Motivated by the need for inline measurements in natural gas and oil exploitation, we developed a microfluidic system which is suitable for chemical measurements by optical methods. It consists of a microfluidic system allowing the separation of gas and liquid phases so that gas can be optically analyzed. This system takes advantage of surface tension effects in tiny microchannels. The application is the measurement of carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration by evaluating absorption of infrared light at a wavelength of 4.24 mum. Measurements have been successfully performed in the 0-70 bars pressure range.