Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T03:43:00.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Generation of water-soluble organic acids from kerogen during hydrous pyrolysis: implications for porosity development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

T. I. Eglinton ,
C. D. Curtis  and
S. J. Rowland
T. I. Eglinton
Affiliation:
Organic Geochemistry Unit, Department of Geology, Drummond Building, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle NE1 7RU
C. D. Curtis
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Mappin Street, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD
S. J. Rowland
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, Plymouth Polytechnic, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Concentrations of organic acids ranging up to several thousand parts per million have previously been found in oil-field waters. These acids are of interest because of their potential to enhance porosity by the dissolution of carbonates and aluminosilicates. They are believed to be generated from organic geopolymers (kerogen) in the late-diagenetic-early-catagenetic stage of thermal maturation.

During the course of artificial maturation experiments in which kerogens of varying type were heated in the presence of water (so-called ‘hydrous pyrolysis’) and different minerals, the distribution and abundance of low molecular weight water-soluble acids were determined by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Preliminary results suggest that significant quantities of mono- and di-carboxylic acids are produced during hydrous pyrolysis. The amounts and types of acid appear to vary as a function of kerogen type, maturity and mineralogy. Implications of these findings regarding the development of secondary porosity are discussed.

Keywords

organic acidskerogenhydrous pyrolysisporosity development
Type
Mineralogy and petroleum genesis
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 51 , Issue 362 , October 1987 , pp. 495 - 503
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bjorlykke, K. (1981) Diagenetic reactions in Sandstones, In Sediment Diagenesis (Parker, A. and Sellwood, B.W., eds). NATO ASI series. Vol. 115, pp. 169-213. Reidel.Google Scholar
Bonham, L.C. (1980) Migration of hydrocarbons in compacting basins. Bull. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. 64, 549-67.Google Scholar
Carothers, W.W. and Kharaka, Y.K. (1978) Aliphatic acid anions in oilfield waters-—Implications for origin of natural gas. Ibid. 62,2441-53.Google Scholar
Cooles, G.P., Mackenzie, A.S. and Parkes, R.J. (1987) Non-hydrocarbons of significance in petroleum exploration: volatile fatty acids and non-hydrocarbon gases. Mineral. Mag. 51, 483-93.Google Scholar
Curtis, C.D. (1983) Link between aluminium mobility and destruction of secondary porosity. Bull. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. 67, 380-93.Google Scholar
Eglinton, T.I., Curtis, C.D. and Rowland, S.J. (1986a) Artificial maturation of kerogens in the presence of minerals: characterization of acidic aqueous products. Submitted to Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. Google Scholar
Eglinton, T.I., Philp, R.P. and Rowland, S.J. (1986b) Flash pyrolysis of artificially matured kerogens. Submitted to Org. Geochem. Google Scholar
Eglinton, T.I., Rowland, S.J., Curtis, C.D. and Douglas, A.G. (1986c) Kerogen-mineral reactions at raised temperatures in the presence of water. Org. Geochem. 6,(in press).Google Scholar
Hayes, J.B. (1979) Sandstone diagenesis-—The hole truth. SEPMSpec. Publ. 26, 127-39.Google Scholar
Kawamura, K., Steinberg, S. and Kaplan, I.R. (1985) Capillary GC determination of short-chain dicarboxylic acids in rain, fog and mist. Intern. J. Environ. Anal. Chem. 19, 175-88.Google Scholar
Kawamura, K., Steinberg, S. and Kaplan, I.R. Tannenbaum, E., Huizinga, B.J. and Kaplan, I.R. (1986) Volatile organic acids generated from kerogen during laboratory heating. Geochern. J. 20, 51-9.Google Scholar
Kharaka, Y.K., Carothers, W.W., and Rosenbauer, R.J. (1983) Thermal decarboxylation of acetic acid: implications for origin of natural gas. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 47, 397-402.Google Scholar
Lambert, M.A. and Moss, C.W. (1972) Gas-Liquid chromatography of short-chain fatty acids on Dexsil 300GC. J. Chromatogr. 74, 335-8.Google Scholar
McBride, E.F. (1980) Importance of Secondary Porosity in sandstones to hydrocarbon exploration. Bull. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. 64, 747.Google Scholar
Rowland, S.J., Aareskjold, K., Xuemin, G. and Douglas, A.G. (1986) Hydrous pyrolysis of sediments: composition and proportions of aromatic hydrocarbons in pyrolysates. Org. Geochem. 6 (in press).Google Scholar
Schmidt, V. and McDonald, D.A. (1979) The role of secondary porosity in the course of sandstone diagenesis. SEPM Spec. Publ. 26, 175-207.Google Scholar
Surdam, R.C., Boese, S.W. and Crossey, L.J. (1984) The chemistry of secondary porosity. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Memoir 37, 127-49Google Scholar