S. Inan, Gaseous hydrocarbons generated during pyrolysis of petroleum source rocks using unconventional grain-size: implications for natural gas composition, ORG GEOCHEM, 31(12), 2000, pp. 1409-1418
Open-system pyrolysis experiments were performed on a suite of immature to
marginally mature source rocks to investigate the influence of kerogen type
on primary gas composition and the effect of grain size on gas expulsion c
haracteristics. The pyrolysis of rock powders confirmed that hydrogen-rich
kerogens yielded wetter gases than did hydrogen-poor kerogens. Gases detect
ed from the pyrolysis of rock chips were drier than those from powders of e
quivalent samples. This was due to two processes: the retention and seconda
ry cracking of higher molecular weight pyrolysis products and the preferent
ial expulsion of methane from the rock matrix. These two effects, one chemi
cal the other physical, could be distinguished using a novel approach invol
ving multi-step pyrolysis of rock chips followed by on-line crushing of the
residues. The enrichment of methane in natural gas attributed, by earlier
workers, to be a consequence of fractionation during secondary migration (p
ost-expulsion) has been proven to be real also during expulsion from source
rocks at least for pyrolysis conditions. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al
l rights reserved.