Abstract
We report the first direct measurements of methane density in shale gas using small-angle neutron scattering. At a constant pressure, the density of methane in the inorganic pores is similar to the gas bulk density of the system conditions. In contrast, the methane density is 2.1 ± 0.2 times greater in the organic mesopores. Classical density functional theory calculations show that this excess density in the organic pores persists to elevated temperatures, typical of shale gas reservoir conditions, providing new insight into the hydrocarbon storage mechanisms within these reservoirs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 9022-9027 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Energy and Fuels |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 17 2016 |
Funding
The authors thank Deniz Ertas and Pavel Kortunov of the ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company and Yun Liu, Steven Kline, and Paul Butler of the NIST CNR for discussion. The authors also thank Chuong Huynh (Carl Zeiss Microscopy) and Bruce Arey (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) for conducting imaging on the Zeiss helium ion microscope. The efforts of Gernot Rother and David J. Wesolowski were supported by ExxonMobil through the U.S. Department of Energy Work for Others Project NFE-12-03861. The authors acknowledge the support of the NIST and the U.S. Department of Commerce in providing the neutron research facilities used in this work.