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Experimental investigation of hydrocarbon formation and transformation under Earth's upper mantle conditions

Abstract

The theory of the abyssal abiotic petroleum origin considers oil and natural gas to be generated in the Earth's upper mantle. Hydrocarbons migrate further through the deep faults into the Earth's crust, where they can form oil and gas deposits in any kind of rock in any kind of structural position. Until recently one of the main obstacles for further development of this theory has been the lack of the data covering processes of generation and transformations of hydrocarbons. Experimental data, presented in this thesis, confirms the possibility of hydrocarbons formation from mantle inorganic compounds (water, Fe, CaCO{sub 3} or graphite) at temperature and pressure of the upper mantle (1500 K and 5 GPa). Experiments were carried out in CONAC high pressure device and multianvil apparatus BARS. Compositions of received gas mixtures were similar to natural gas. Quantity of hydrocarbons depended on the cooling regime of reaction mixture under pressure. Slow cooling favored higher quantity. We found that donor of carbon (CaCO{sub 3} or graphite) determines formation of 'dry' (methane-rich) gas or 'wet' (light hydrocarbons-rich) gas. Experiments in laser-heated diamond anvil cells showed that methane and ethane partially react under upper mantle thermobaric conditions (2-5 GPa, 1000-1500 K) to form  More>>
Publication Date:
Dec 15, 2010
Product Type:
Technical Report
Report Number:
NEI-SE-891
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis or Dissertation; TH: Doctoral thesis (TeknD); 68 refs., 34 figs., 9 tabs.
Subject:
02 PETROLEUM; 03 NATURAL GAS; ABIOGENIC GAS; HYDROCARBONS; EARTH MANTLE; PETROLEUM; PRESSURE RANGE GIGA PA; TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K
OSTI ID:
1005375
Research Organizations:
Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden). School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Dept. of Energy Technology
Country of Origin:
Sweden
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: SE1107037
Availability:
Available from UIR: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-27017
Submitting Site:
SWD
Size:
69 p. pages
Announcement Date:
Feb 28, 2011

Citation Formats

Kolesnikov, Anton. Experimental investigation of hydrocarbon formation and transformation under Earth's upper mantle conditions. Sweden: N. p., 2010. Web.
Kolesnikov, Anton. Experimental investigation of hydrocarbon formation and transformation under Earth's upper mantle conditions. Sweden.
Kolesnikov, Anton. 2010. "Experimental investigation of hydrocarbon formation and transformation under Earth's upper mantle conditions." Sweden.
@misc{etde_1005375,
title = {Experimental investigation of hydrocarbon formation and transformation under Earth's upper mantle conditions}
author = {Kolesnikov, Anton}
abstractNote = {The theory of the abyssal abiotic petroleum origin considers oil and natural gas to be generated in the Earth's upper mantle. Hydrocarbons migrate further through the deep faults into the Earth's crust, where they can form oil and gas deposits in any kind of rock in any kind of structural position. Until recently one of the main obstacles for further development of this theory has been the lack of the data covering processes of generation and transformations of hydrocarbons. Experimental data, presented in this thesis, confirms the possibility of hydrocarbons formation from mantle inorganic compounds (water, Fe, CaCO{sub 3} or graphite) at temperature and pressure of the upper mantle (1500 K and 5 GPa). Experiments were carried out in CONAC high pressure device and multianvil apparatus BARS. Compositions of received gas mixtures were similar to natural gas. Quantity of hydrocarbons depended on the cooling regime of reaction mixture under pressure. Slow cooling favored higher quantity. We found that donor of carbon (CaCO{sub 3} or graphite) determines formation of 'dry' (methane-rich) gas or 'wet' (light hydrocarbons-rich) gas. Experiments in laser-heated diamond anvil cells showed that methane and ethane partially react under upper mantle thermobaric conditions (2-5 GPa, 1000-1500 K) to form mixture of hydrocarbons: methane, ethane, propane and n-butane - main compounds of natural gas. Similarity of final product mixture obtained from methane and ethane means thermodynamic stability of hydrocarbons in the thermobaric conditions of the upper mantle and equilibrium character of the observed processes}
place = {Sweden}
year = {2010}
month = {Dec}
}