Coal as a source rock of petroleum: A comparison between the petrology of the Mesaverde Group coals, in burial and hydrous pyrolysis

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5702243

Garcia-Gonzalez, M; Surdam, R C ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics

Almond Formation coal samples from the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming, were studied to investigate the textural characteristics and maceral composition at different levels of maturation as observed through burial and hydrous pyrolysis experiments. The textural changes observed in these scenarios (burial and hydrous pyrolysis) are very similar and show a textural evolution that starts with the loss of the original laminated texture on desmocollinite, followed by the formation of a porous texture that evolves to a vesicular texture due to the generation of increasing quantities of exsudatinite, which can be considered as the precursor of petroleum. The maceral transformation starts with the formation of micrinite from liptinite, and at the same time desmocollinite becomes homogenized and the content of semifusinite and fusinite increases with increasing temperature in both burial and hydrous pyrolysis. The sources of exsudatinite in the Almond coal are the liptinite macerals and desmocollinite, which both contribute to the formation of vesicles filled by exsudatinite. When these vesicles are broken, the expulsion of oil from coal takes place. The recovery of liquid petroleum (as much as 27 mg oil/g coal) demonstrates that the Almond coal may be a significant source for oil in the Greater Green River Basin.

• OSTI ID: 5702243
• Report Number(s): CONF-921058--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 24:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
011000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
02 PETROLEUM
020200 -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
COAL DEPOSITS
DECOMPOSITION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGY
GREEN RIVER FORMATION
MACERALS
MATURATION
MINERAL RESOURCES
NORTH AMERICA
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PETROLOGY
PRODUCTION
PYROLYSIS
RESOURCES
SOURCE ROCKS
TEXTURE
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
USA
WYOMING