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Discuss how the type of formation can influence the composition of hydrocarbons stating clearly
your facts:
Hydrocarbon generation is the result of the maturation of buried organic matter. The processes
which allow for hydrocarbon generation take a long period of time and occurs within formations
containing sedimentary rocks. Here, the deposition of organically rich material has been followed by
clean sandstones that form high porosity, well connected pore spaces and are subsequently capped
by shale with very low permeabilities. The burial of the initial deposition provides the pressures and
temperatures to produce hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons are less dense than water and as such will
migrate upwards into the sandstones, replacing the water that originally occupied the reservoir
sandstone, where the hydrocarbons are constrained from rising further by the shale cap. The
depositional and post-depositional history of the reservoir rock, and particularly its diagenetic history
(compaction, cementation and dissolution), all contribute to the mineralogical composition of the
rock, and hence its grain size distribution, porosity, pore size distribution and the connectivity of its
pores. Organic matter undergoes changes in composition with increasing burial depth and
temperature. Petroleum hydrocarbons can exist as gaseous, liquid and solid phases depending on
temperature, pressure, burial timeand composition of the system. The three steps in the
transformation of organic matter to petroleum hydrocarbons are termed diagenesis, catagenesis and
metagenesis. Diagenesis acts during shallow burial, down to approximately 500m and at
temperatures not more than 50C. The initial processes of diagenesis consists of activity of living
microbes of various kinds, buried along with the sediment. These microbes are the main agents of
chemical transformation of organic matter. Diagenesis acts during shallow burial, down to
approximately 500m and at temperatures not more than 50C. The initial processes of diagenesis
consists of activity of living microbes of various kinds, buried along with the sediment. These
microbes are the main agents of chemical transformation of organic matter. If the sediments are
deposited in an oxygenated environment, then these microbes will use up the free oxygen. As the
depth increases, anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria extract oxygen from sulfates and reduce the
sulphur to sulphide ions. The sulphide ions will then combine with ferrous iron to form various iron
sulphides, which are slowly converted to pyrite after further burial. Finally, by fermentation, certain
other anaerobic bacteria feed on oxidized forms of organic matter generating methane. In the later
stages of diagenesis, which is the point at which the sediments are buried to greater depths, the
organic matter remaining after microbial activity is progressively converted or synthesized into
higher molecular weight organic compounds that are more stable and less water soluble. The
compounds which undergo diagenetic change are termed kerogens. Kerogen is the raw material
which is utilized for the synthesis of mobile liquid hydrocarbons during further burial. At this stage,
certain organic compounds would have been produced that are soluble in organic solvents and can
be extracted commercially. One of these compounds is bitumen which is the material for which oil
shales can be mined. Catagenesis then occurs which leads to the formation of fluid hydrocarbons
through various organic chemical reactions from some of the kerogen that was produced at earlier
stages of diagenesis. The amount and composition of these hydrocarbons changes progressively
toward lower molecular weight hydrocarbons during this process until only light hydrocarbons are
produced during the metagenesis process.
2. Describe the typical properties and composition of the different HCs and discuss how these are
used in the oil and gas industry.
Hydrocarbons of relatively high molecular weight are in liquid form both in the subsurface and when
they are pumped (or flow naturally) to the surface. In a general way, the higher the molecular weight
of the hydrocarbon mix in the petroleum, the more viscous the liquid. The hydrocarbon with lowest
molecular weight, methane, CH4, is a gas even at the high pressures of petroleum-forming depths.
The hydrocarbons with slightly greater molecular weights (ethane, C2H6; propane, C3H8; and
butane, C4H10), are liquid under the great pressures of petroleum-generating depths but undergo a
change of state from liquid to gas on the way to the surface, as the pressure decreases. Liquid
petroleum consists mainly of a mixture of alkanes of various molecular weights (alkanes are organic
compounds with chains of single-bonded carbon, with hydrogens bonded to the carbons along the
chains) and aromatics (aromatic compounds are those with benzene rings in their structures).
Natural gas is composed predominantly of methane, with much smaller percentages of ethane,
propane, and butane. Natural gas also contains variable percentages of carbon dioxide, hydrogen
sulfide, nitrogen, hydrogen, helium, and argon; these are largely of inorganic origin, and are included
in the natural gas basically because they were there.
Petroleums are frequently characterized by the relative amounts of four series of compounds. The
members of each series are similar in chemical structure and properties. The four series (or classes of
compounds) that are found in petroleums are:
(1) the normal and branched alkane series (paraffins),
(2) cycloalkanes (naphthenes),
3. Explain how the presence of impurities in the HC can affect its production and value.
Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, and hydrogen are common non-hydrocarbon constituents of petroleum.
All three are light molecules and mainly are part of the gas at the surface. Also, hydrogen and helium
are found in some natural gases. Petroleum also contains compounds in which sulfur, oxygen and
nitrogen atoms are combined with carbon and hydrogen. These elements usually are combined with
the complex ring structures that make up the larges molecules of petroleums. These larger nonhydrocarbon, compounds form a class of chemicals generally called resins and asphaltenes. The
quantity of these compound in petroleum is very small.