Evaluating Molecular Evolution of Kerogen by Raman Spectroscopy: Correlation with Optical Microscopy and Rock-Eval Pyrolysis

Seyedalireza Khatibi, Mehdi Ostadhassan, David Tuschel, Thomas Gentzis and Humberto Carvajal-Ortiz
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Seyedalireza Khatibi: Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58203, USA
Mehdi Ostadhassan: Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58203, USA
David Tuschel: Raman Application Department, HORIBA Scientific, Edison, NJ 08820, USA
Thomas Gentzis: Geology and Petrology department, Core Laboratories, Houston, TX 77040, USA
Humberto Carvajal-Ortiz: Geology and Petrology department, Core Laboratories, Houston, TX 77040, USA

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: Vitrinite maturity and programmed pyrolysis are conventional methods to evaluate organic matter (OM) regarding its thermal maturity. Moreover, vitrinite reflectance analysis can be difficult if prepared samples have no primary vitrinite or dispersed widely. Raman spectroscopy is a nondestructive method that has been used in the last decade for maturity evaluation of organic matter by detecting structural transformations, however, it might suffer from fluorescence background in low mature samples. In this study, four samples of different maturities from both shale formations of Bakken (the upper and lower members) Formation were collected and analyzed with Rock-Eval (RE) and Raman spectroscopy. In the next step, portions of the same samples were then used for the isolation of kerogen and analyzed by Raman spectroscopy. Results showed that Raman spectroscopy, by detecting structural information of OM, could reflect thermal maturity parameters that were derived from programmed pyrolysis. Moreover, isolating kerogen will reduce the background noise (fluorescence) in the samples dramatically and yield a better spectrum. The study showed that thermal properties of OM could be precisely reflected in Raman signals.

Keywords: unconventional reservoirs; kerogen; vitrinite maturity; Rock-Eval; Raman spectroscopy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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