Nadine Barna
University of Vienna, Austria
Title: Wondering about Connectivity and Efficiency of Drilling Sites? DNA Tracers will tell you
Biography
Biography: Nadine Barna
Abstract
The demand for robust chemical flow tracer systems to map fluid flow and fluid distributions for various geological reservoirs or to trace wastewater effluent leakage from landfill sites or contaminated surface water is increasing. In oil and gas industry, for instance, in hydraulic fracturing treatments, chemical flow tracers are often used to map fluid flow or to gain information about the reservoir geology, connectivity, and efficiency of drilling sites. Unambiguously identifiable tracers which survive the harsh fracturing conditions can be added to hydraulic fluid systems and can give a complete picture about the connectivity and efficiency of different drilling sites. We propose a DNA-based robust tracer system. DNA was encapsulated into polystyrene, which was co-polymerised with a cross-linker. Therefore, artificial single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) was complexed to protect and transfer it from the aqueous phase into the monomer phase. A mini-emulsion was formed and polymerized, which resulted in an aqueous suspension of DNA containing, cross-linked polystyrene nanoparticles. Cross-linking the polymer enables selective release of the DNA from the nanoparticles by hydrogenation of the cross-links via Raney-Nickel. The recovered ssDNA was identified and quantified via quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR).