Methods of step extraction of rocks of high-carbon formations for the study of the component distribution of bitumen and variability of their basic geochemical parameters

Abstract

The article describes organic-rich rocks sequential extraction method for the bitumen composition difference. The method step-by-step extracts bitumen first from open and then from closed pores using three organic solvents with increasing polarity. The released bitumen differs in malthens/asphaltenes ratio, the distribution of n-alkanes, the content of terpanes and steranes, and, thus, the values of the biomarker parameters. These parameters show difference in the degree of organic matter thermal maturity, which is relates to different types of rock pore space. At the same time different parameters show different maturity ratio between bitumen from open and closed pores. Changes in the composition of bitumen allow to estimate the migration of hydrocarbon compounds through the well, to investigate the effect of sedimentation conditions on the pore space and the distribution of bitumen. The results show that investigation of bitumen received by one-step extraction from powder can lead to incorrect interpret of obtained results.

Keywords

• sequential extraction
• organic-rich rocks
• pore structure
• bitumen
• biomarker parameters
• gas chromatography-mass spectrometry