Abstract
The effect of solvent extraction on pore space was examined on a suite of samples from the Eagle Ford Shale Formation with varying lithologies and maturities. Several solvents ─toluene, cyclohexane, methanol, dichloromethane, and hydrochloric acid─ were contacted with shale samples, extracting the compatible organic matter. The porosity in these extracted shale samples was compared to unmodified samples. The amount and type of organic matter extracted were determined using Gas Chromatography ─ Mass Spectrometry, and the porosity was determined by (Ultra) Small Angle Neutron Scattering. Mostly alkanes and aromatics were detected in the extracts, but other portions of bitumen may also have been present. Only higher molecular weight alkanes were extracted with hydrochloric acid, suggesting that physical dissolution of carbonate minerals may have liberated this portion of organic matter and the solvent was not able to penetrate the bitumen and kerogen to extract the lower molecular weight alkanes. Additionally, a decrease in porosity with extraction was observed and attributed to a dominant mechanism of kerogen swelling due to kerogen-solvent interaction.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 298-311 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Fuel |
Volume | 238 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 15 2019 |
Funding
This material is primarily based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division. VHD acknowledges a graduate fellowship through the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. JM funding came from the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, contract NFE-11-03260. E.P. was sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory and was accomplished under Grant Number W911NF-16-1-0043 . E. P. also acknowledges support from the Tom Cronin and Helen Sestak Faculty Achievement award. A portion of this research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Access to both the SANS and USANS instruments was provided by the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering, a partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation under agreement No. DMR-1508249. We acknowledge the support of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, in providing the neutron research facilities used in this work.