Australia finds new way to find oil

William Atkins
Thursday, 29 July 2010 23:21

Science - Energy

Scientists with CSIRO, the scientific research arm of the Australian government, have discovered a “revolutionary” technique for quickly detecting petroleum hydrocarbons in soil, rock, sediment, and silt.

 

According to the CSIRO media release “CSIRO develops new oil detection technique,” the new way to detect and quantify oil was developed by CSIRO scientists and waste treatment specialist company Ziltek Pty Ltd.

The article states, “… the technique means that the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons can now be quantified simply by using a hand-held infrared spectrometer to take readings at the site of interest, without the need to take samples or perform any kind of processing.”

Compared to the current methods to detect oil, this new method uses fewer employees, takes less time, requires less equipment, and is much better suited to on-site analysis.

The new technique will also be able to detect the severity of sites contaminated from off-shore oil spills and other accidents at industrial sites.

CSIRO scientist and infrared spectroscopist Sean Forrester comments, “The ability of this new technique to rapidly detect the presence of contaminants at the site has the potential to provide significant cost advantages, in terms of reduced testing costs and the avoidance of delays.”

The new technique promises to reduce the amount of time needed to make such detections and, consequently, will reduce the associated costs.

Learn more about this new Australian oil detection system by reading the before-mentioned CSIRO article “CSIRO develops new oil detection technique.”