The influence of water on the thermal simulation experiment of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion

ABSTRACT

Thermal simulation experiment of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion is an important method for the study of source rock evolution. The role played by water in organic material evolution was clarified by summarizing the effect of water on different pyrolysis systems. According to the results, the hydrous experiment has a better hydrocarbon generation rate than the anhydrous experiment in the closed system. In the semi-open system, high-pressure water vapor has good effect to gas generation, while near-critical water (NCW) improves the oil and total hydrocarbon productive rate. So, it is inferred that NCW improves the conversion of kerogen to hydrocarbon reactions, and increases the dissolving capacity of hydrocarbons.

KEYWORDS:

• Hydrocarbon generation and expulsion
• organic matter evolution
• productive rate
• thermal simulation experiment
• water influence

Funding

This research was funded by the National Basic Research Program of China – 973 Program (No. 2014CB239005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41502146), and the Petrochina Science and Technology Innovation Fund (No. 2015D-5006-0101).