화학공학소재연구정보센터
Energy & Fuels, Vol.34, No.10, 12354-12365, 2020
Structural Properties of Kerogens with Different Maturities
The thermogenic transformation of kerogen into hydrocarbons accompanies the development of a pore network within the kerogen that serves as gas storage locations both in pore space and the surface area for adsorbed gas with source rocks. Therefore, the successful recovery of gas from these rocks depends on the accessible surface area, surface properties, and interconnectivity of the pore system. These parameters can be difficult to determine because of the nanoscale of the structures within source rocks. This study seeks to investigate the pore structure, surface heterogeneity, and composition of isolated kerogens with progressively increasing thermogenic maturities from source rocks at a middle-east reservoir. Prompt gamma-ray activation analysis (PGAA), nitrogen and methane volumetric gas sorption, and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) are combined to explore the relationship between the chemical composition, pore structure, surface roughness, surface heterogeneity, and maturity. PGAA results indicate that more mature kerogens have lower hydrogen/carbon ratios. Nitrogen gas adsorption indicates that the pore volume and accessible specific surface area are higher for more mature kerogens. The methane isosteric heat at different methane uptakes in the kerogens is determined by methane isotherms and shows that approximately two types of binding sites are present in less mature kerogens while the binding sites are relatively homogeneous in the most mature kerogen. The hysteresis effects of the structure during the adsorption and desorption processes at different CD4 gas pressures are studied. An extended generalized Porod's scattering law method (GPSLM) is further developed here to analyze kerogens with fractal surfaces. This extended GPSLM quantifies the surface heterogeneity of the kerogens with a fractal surface and shows that more mature kerogen is chemically more homogeneous, consistent with the results from methane isosteric heat. SANS analysis also suggests a pronounced surface roughness in the more mature kerogens. A microporous region circling around the nanopores, which contributes to high surface roughness and methane storage, is shown to develop with maturity.