Development of an arrayed hydrocarbon sensing system for the detection of seeped hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbon seeps in the marine environment are used as proxies for subsurface accumulations. Typically marine surveys to delineate these subsea features us a verity of techniques, which generally do not allow timely chemical identification of hydrocarbons. This paper outlines current research on the development of an integrated underway arrayed hydrocarbon sensing system that can be used on a variety of vessels to detect seeped hydrocarbons. The aim of the research is to increase the number of successful surveys through the deployment of this equipment. Field trials of the system have demonstrated its successful operation in the marine environment and testing of the hydrocarbon sensors have shown that the majority of the sensors used can detect dissolved hydrocarbons at ppb levels. Laboratory experiments using 23 oil-in-synthetic sea water extracts has shown that the sensor array has the potential to differentiate between oils (refined and unrefined) from different sources, based upon their seawater extracts.