(Press-News.org) A greater understanding of the evolutionary stage of kerogen for hydrocarbon generation would play a role in easing the world's current energy problem. Professor ZHAO Kun and his group from the Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Terahertz Spectrum and Photoelectric Detection (CPCIF, China University of Petroleum, Beijing) set out to tackle this problem. After five years of innovative research, they have developed terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) as an effective method to detect the generation of oil and gas from kerogen. Their work, entitled "Applying terahertz time-domain spectroscopy to probe the evolution of kerogen in close pyrolysis systems", was published in Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, 2013, Vol. 56(8).
The evolution stages of kerogen and hydrocarbon generation are critical aspects of oil-gas exploration and source rock evaluation. In sedimentary rock, about 95% of the organic matter is kerogen, the key intermediate in the formation of oil and gas. The specific kerogen type and maturity level will determine the characteristics of the hydrocarbons that will be generated. Previous research has led to two primary observations: (i) kerogen serves as a significant energy source as recoverable shale oil and coal where reserves far exceed the remaining petroleum reserves; and (ii) kerogen possesses a significant sorption capacity for organic compounds. Kerogen is primarily composed of alicyclics, aromatics, and other functional groups. Therefore, the ability to generate oil and gas from kerogen is determined primarily by its specific composition and structure. However, each generation technique has advantages and disadvantages within the specific parameters of the kerogen. Thus, there is a need for new methods to characterize the numerous stages and mechanisms of hydrocarbon generation from kerogen.
Vitrinite reflectance (R0%), defined as the proportion of normal incident light reflected by a polished planar surface of vitrinite (found in kerogen), is commonly used to characterize the maturity stage of kerogen. Those stages are defined as: the immature (IM) stage, where it generally cannot produce oil and gas (R0%
Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for oil and gas detection
2013-09-12
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Contact: Michael Bernstein
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Michael Woods
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American Chemical Society
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