Heat plays a key role in both the formation and recovery of petroleum. Increasing demands for world oil and gas require continues discovery of novel sources of petroleum and design of new methods of recovery. In addition to traditional oil and gas resources, it is now recognized that a vast potential source of petroleum occurs in immature rocks in which case they are referred to as 'oil shales'. Petroleum can be derived from oil shales through the application of heat using recently developed In-situ Conversion Process (ICP). Combined with successful implementation of horizontal drilling this method offers new attractive way of production of hydrocarbons. For the method to become economically viable precise knowledge of thermal properties of said rocks is essential. Although the thermal properties and temperature related behavior of oil bearing rocks have been the subject of research for over half of century the field continues to offer many challenges to scientists and engineers. Often, the complex structures of the starting material as well as the physical and chemical alterations many rocks and minerals undergo with variable temperature require the application of a wide array of analytical techniques in order to adequately characterize the material of interest. This presentation will discuss basic properties of shales as understood by characterization of transitions over temperature range between room temperature and 600�C, i.e., above kerogen decomposition. Variety of experimental methods and techniques were applied: Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetry (TG), Dilatometry (TMA), Evolving gas analysis by the combined DTA/TG/Mass Spectrometry (the Skimmer).  Fig. 1,  Example of simultaneous TG/DAT/MS analysis of Green River oil shale.  New findings will be discussed in the context of historical data.

Helpful hand of thermal analysis in production of hydrocarbons from shales

247th National Meeting (2014)

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