Accessibility of Pores to Methane in New Albany Shale Samples of Varying Maturity Determined Using SANS and USANS

Tomasz Blach, Andrzej P. Radlinski, Phung Vu, Yeping Ji, Liliana de Campo, Elliot P. Gilbert, Klaus Regenauer-Lieb and Maria Mastalerz
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Tomasz Blach: School of Minerals and Energy Resource Engineering, Kensington, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Andrzej P. Radlinski: School of Minerals and Energy Resource Engineering, Kensington, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Phung Vu: School of Minerals and Energy Resource Engineering, Kensington, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Yeping Ji: School of Minerals and Energy Resource Engineering, Kensington, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Liliana de Campo: Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
Elliot P. Gilbert: Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
Klaus Regenauer-Lieb: School of Minerals and Energy Resource Engineering, Kensington, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Maria Mastalerz: Indiana Geological and Water Survey, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-2208, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-35

Abstract: The accessibility of pores to methane has been investigated in Devonian New Albany Shale Formation early-mature (R o = 0.50%) to post-mature (R o = 1.40%) samples. A Marcellus Shale Formation sample was included to expand the maturation range to R o 2.50%. These are organic matter-rich rocks with total organic carbon (TOC) values of 3.4 to 14.4% and porosity values of 2.19 to 6.88%. Contrast matching small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultra-small angle neutron scattering (USANS) techniques were used to generate porosity-related data before and after pressure cycling under hydrostatic (in a vacuum and at 500 bar of deuterated methane) and uniaxial stress (0 to ca. 350 bar) conditions. Our results showed that the accessible porosity was small for the samples studied, ranging from zero to 2.9%. No correlation between the accessible porosity and TOC or mineralogical composition was revealed, and the most likely explanation for porosity variation was related to the thermal transformation of organic matter and hydrocarbon generation. Pressure caused improvements in accessible porosity for most samples, except the oil window sample (R o = 0.84%). Our data show that densification of methane occurs in nanopores, generally starting at diameters smaller than 20 nm, and that the distribution of methane density is affected by pressure cycling.

Keywords: accessible porosity; methane; neutron scattering; New Albany Shale (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: 2021
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