New Insight into the Kinetics of Deep Liquid Hydrocarbon Cracking and Its Significance

Abstract

The deep marine natural gas accumulations in China are mainly derived from the cracking of liquid hydrocarbons with different occurrence states. Besides accumulated oil in reservoir, the dispersed liquid hydrocarbon in and outside source also is important source for cracking gas generation or relayed gas generation in deep formations. In this study, nonisothermal gold tube pyrolysis and numerical calculations as well as geochemical analysis were conducted to ascertain the expulsion efficiency of source rocks and the kinetics for oil cracking. By determination of light liquid hydrocarbons and numerical calculations, it is concluded that the residual bitumen or hydrocarbons within source rocks can occupy about 50 wt.% of total oil generated at oil generation peak. This implies that considerable amounts of natural gas can be derived from residual hydrocarbon cracking and contribute significantly to the accumulation of shale gas. Based on pyrolysis experiments and kinetic calculations, we established a model for the cracking of oil and its different components. In addition, a quantitative gas generation model was also established to address the contribution of the cracking of residual oil and expulsed oil for natural gas accumulations in deep formations. These models may provide us with guidance for gas resource evaluation and future gas exploration in deep formations.