TY - JOUR
T1 - Microstructure characterization of kerogen in mature shale
T2 - Molecular investigation of micropore development
AU - Zhang, Chu
AU - Yao, Yanbin
AU - Elsworth, Derek
AU - Liu, Dexun
AU - Ju, Yiwen
AU - Dong, Yuguang
AU - Ye, Shun
N1 - Funding Information:
We acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 41872123 ; 41830427 ) and the National Major Science and Technology Projects of China ( 2017ZX05035 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Micropores (<2 nm) are commonly well developed in shale kerogen, which plays an important role for generation and transport of gas in shales. However, the mechanism of micropores development in kerogen structure has not been fully investigated. In this study, we provide an improved methodology to construct 3-D models of kerogen structure, then we construct such molecular models of kerogen for two well-known shales (the Marcellus shale from USA and Shanxi Formation shale from China), and finally we discussed the influences of chemical composition and disorder degree on the formation of micropores in the mature kerogens. Results show that loss of aliphatic structures and the increase in aromatic structures are favorable for the development of micropores. By comparing the kerogen models of M-1 and SX-2, we found that the morphology of micropores in aliphatic structures is more complex than that in aromatic structures. Analyses from 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Raman spectroscopy indicate that apart from chemical compositions, spatial arrangement of structural groups can also affect the development of micropores. For mature kerogen with a large proportion of aromatic rings, disordered aromatic rings are favorable for the development of micropores.
AB - Micropores (<2 nm) are commonly well developed in shale kerogen, which plays an important role for generation and transport of gas in shales. However, the mechanism of micropores development in kerogen structure has not been fully investigated. In this study, we provide an improved methodology to construct 3-D models of kerogen structure, then we construct such molecular models of kerogen for two well-known shales (the Marcellus shale from USA and Shanxi Formation shale from China), and finally we discussed the influences of chemical composition and disorder degree on the formation of micropores in the mature kerogens. Results show that loss of aliphatic structures and the increase in aromatic structures are favorable for the development of micropores. By comparing the kerogen models of M-1 and SX-2, we found that the morphology of micropores in aliphatic structures is more complex than that in aromatic structures. Analyses from 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Raman spectroscopy indicate that apart from chemical compositions, spatial arrangement of structural groups can also affect the development of micropores. For mature kerogen with a large proportion of aromatic rings, disordered aromatic rings are favorable for the development of micropores.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104239
DO - 10.1016/j.jngse.2021.104239
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114834266
VL - 95
JO - Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering
JF - Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering
SN - 1875-5100
M1 - 104239
ER -