Unconventional Offshore Petroleum-extracting oil from active source rocks of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of the North Sea

The organic-rich Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation is the major source rock for conventional oil and gas in the North Sea with a maximum thickness of 1,100 m. TOC values range from 2 wt.%-10 wt.% and predominantly Type II (bacterially-degraded algal, and a mix of Type I (mainly algal) kerogens. The δ13Corg values for the investigated samples range from -29.73 ‰ to -26. 88 ‰, these values are characteristic of marine organic matter with terrestrial input. Sixteen billion barrels of commercial reserves have been discovered in conventional reservoirs in the UK Viking Graben area with 29 billion barrels discovered in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. However, this principal UK conventional hydrocarbon province is reaching the maturity phase of field exploration, leading to a growing interest for unconventional hydrocarbons in the UK and some part of Europe. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the unconventional hydrocarbon potential of the Kimmeridge shale to identity sweet-spot areas using multidisciplinary analogues from successful unconventional resource plays in North American. Conventional and unconventional source rock analyses show that the Kimmeridge Clay Formation contains a significant amount of un-expelled residual oil both within the source rock and in the interbedded sandstone in the South Viking Graben area. As a consequence, this source rock and juxtaposed non-source lithofacies (sand interbeds) can form a hybrid shale resource system. Due to its high organic richness and favourable sweet-spot reservoir properties such as lithology, thickness, kerogen type, level of thermal maturity and hydrocarbon generative potential, the Kimmeridge Clay Formation could be the first offshore unconventional resource in the future. TOC, Rock-Eval S1, Tmax, mineralogical content and the formation of organic, interparticle and intraparticle porosities at peak oil maturity are all factors that have influenced the retention and drainage of the observed oil. The examination/analysis of their interrelationships provides a useful framework and signature for future prediction of sweet spot areas for viable unconventional resources

Michigan Geology: A Bibliography, March 2016

The Michigan Geological Survey produced a historic Index of Michigan Geology with an extensive bibliography in 1956. This current bibliography is an update of the bibliography in the Martin and Straight compilation. It is not comprehensive, but provides a starting place for anyone interested in Michigan Geology. The Michigan Geological Survey plans to update this bibliography periodically with newly published citations as well as other older citations we find

Michigan Geology: A Bibliography, March 2016

The Michigan Geological Survey produced a historic Index of Michigan Geology with an extensive bibliography in 1956. This current bibliography is an update of the bibliography in the Martin and Straight compilation. It is not comprehensive, but provides a starting place for anyone interested in Michigan Geology. The Michigan Geological Survey plans to update this bibliography periodically with newly published citations as well as other older citations we find

Development of Mathematical Models for the Assessment of Fire Risk of Some Indian Coals using Soft Computing Techniques

Coal is the dominant energy source in India and meets 56% of the country’s primary commercial energy supply. In the light of the realization of the supremacy of coal to meet the future energy demands, rapid mechanization of mines is taking place to augment the Indian coal production from 643.75 million tons (MT) per annum in 2014-15 to an expected level of 1086 MT per annum by 2024-25. Most of the coals in India are obtained from low-rank coal seams. Fires have been raging in several coal mines in Indian coalfields. Spontaneous heating of coal is a major problem in the global mining industry. Different researchers have reported that a majority (75%) of these fires owe their origin to spontaneous combustion of coal. Fires, whether surface or underground, pose serious and environmental problems are causing huge loss of coal due to burning and loss of lives, sterilization of coal reserves and environmental pollution on a massive scale. Over the years, the number of active mine fires in India has increased to an alarming 70 locations covering a cumulative area of 17 km2. In Indian coalfield, the fire has engulfed more than 50 million tons of prime coking coal, and about 200 million tons of coals are locked up due to fires. The seriousness of the problem has been realized by the Ministry of Coal, the Ministry of Labour, various statutory agencies and mining companies. The recommendations made in the 10th Conference on Safety in Mine held at New Delhi in 2007 as well as in the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC)-2006, New Delhi, it was stated that all the coal mining companies should rank their coal mines on a uniform scale according to their fire risk on scientific basis. This will help the mine planners/engineers to adopt precautionary measures/steps in advance against the occurrence and spread of coal mine fire. Most of the research work carried out in India focused on the assessment of spontaneous combustion liabilities of coals based on limited conventional experimental techniques. The investigators have proposed/established statistical models to establish correlation between various coal parameters, but limited work was done on the development of soft computing techniques to predict the propensity of coal to self-heating that is yet to get due attention. Also, the classifications that have been made earlier are based on limited works which were empirical in nature, without adequate and sound mathematical base. Keeping this in view, an attempt was made in this research work to study forty-nine coal samples of various ranks covering the majority of the Indian coalfields. The experimental/analytical methods that were used to assess the tendencies of coals to spontaneous heating were: proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, petrographic analysis, crossing point temperature, Olpinski index, flammability temperature, wet oxidation potential analysis and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The statistical regression analysis was carried out between the parameters of intrinsic properties and the susceptibility indices and the best-correlated parameters were used as inputs to the soft computing models. Further different ANN models such as Multilayer Perceptron Network (MLP), Functional Link Artificial Neural Network (FLANN) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) were applied for the assessment of fire risk potential of Indian coals. The proposed appropriate ANN fire risk prediction models were designed based on the best-correlated parameters (ultimate analysis) selected as inputs after rigorous statistical analysis. After the successful application of all the proposed ANN models, comparative studies were made based on Mean Magnitude of Relative Error (MMRE) as the performance parameter, model performance curves and Pearson residual boxplots. From the proposed ANN techniques, it was observed that Szb provided better fire risk prediction with RBF model vis-à-vis MLP and FLANN. The results of the proposed RBF network model was closely matching with the field records of the investigated Indian coals and can help the mine management to adopt appropriate strategies and effective action plans in advance to prevent occurrence and spread of fire

Coalbed gas origin and distribution in the southeastern Illinois Basin

Thesis (PhD) - Indiana University, Geological Sciences, 2007Coal seams worldwide contain biogenic methane that in some coal basins forms easily accessible and large amounts of coalbed methane (CBM). Economically important biogenic CBM occurs not only in coals of low rank but also in higher rank coals where uplift and brine dilution initiated microbial methanogenesis. Distributions and compositions of gases in biogenic systems are governed by numerous factors including salinity, microbe-accessible porosity, and coal permeability. In contrast, thermogenic gas systems are primarily controlled by coal rank and depth. Determination of gas origin is, therefore, critical for a successful exploration strategy. This study employs geochemical, stable isotopic, and microbiological techniques to investigate the distribution and the origin of coalbed gases in the southeastern Illinois Basin. Our results suggest that high permeability and shallow (100-250 m) depths of Indiana coals allowed their inoculation with a methanogenic microbial consortia, thus leading to widespread and abundant microbial methane generation along the eastern marginal part of the Illinois Basin. Consequently, high volatile bituminous C Indiana coals with a vitrinite reflectance Ro ~ 0.6% contain significant amounts of coal gas (~3 cm3/g, 96 scf/t) with ≥ 97 vol.% of microbial methane. In contrast, deeper (>300 m) and more mature (high volatile bituminous A) coals in a tectonically active zone in the western Kentucky part of the basin contain gases of distinctly thermogenic origin. Enrichment experiments and phylogeny of the microbial community responsible for generation of coalbed methane in the Indiana part of the Illinois Basin imply that coal organic matter was biodegraded by a complex microbial consortium to form simple molecules, such as H2 and CO2, that fuel methanogenesis. 16S rRNA analyses of both in-situ microbial communities and methanogen enrichments indicate that Methanocorpusculum is the dominant genus responsible for biogenic CBM formation

2000 - Geology Bibliography of California, 1854–2000

The scope of this database is much broader in scope than the original list of consultant reports submitted to Monterey County governmental agencies and includes extensive references on regional geologic mapping, hydrogeology, economic geology, and research done in connection with the Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment. Major sources of information include: • Monterey County Planning Department: a database of approximately 2,000 references within the categories of geology, soil, water resources, and water quality. • Monterey County Water Resources Agency. • Monterey Peninsula Water Management District. • The American Geological Institute’s GeoRef database. • The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Geologic Map Database. • An online bibliography of research conducted in the northern Santa Lucia Mountains, Big Sur, and surrounding area published for the Santa Lucia Natural History Symposium (sponsored by Esalen Institute and University of California Big Creek Reserve, 1994–1997). • Library catalogs of the U.S. Geological Survey, University of California, California State University, Stanford University, and the California Institute of Technology. The list of nearly 4,300 references was prepared to further the County of Monterey\u27s 21st Century General Plan Update in order to have the most complete data available for planning and policy decisions.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_cgb_5/1037/thumbnail.jp

Shale gas prospectivity studies in the Perth Basin, Western Australia

The Early Permian Carynginia Formation and the Late Triassic Kockatea Shale are prospective shale gas resources in the Perth Basin. Various geological studies such as visual core description and petrography were conducted to understand about the lithofacies and depositional environments in the target formations. Key geochemical parameters such as TOC, thermal maturity and RHP were identified through rock-eval pyrolysis. Petrophysical studies were applied in detecting organic richness and fracability of the under-study shale plays

Artificial Maturation Studies of Polymethylenic Plant Biopolymers: Investigating the Chemical Alterations from Plant Material to Coal

The thermal maturation and alternation of vascular plant material into coals and as expelled petroleum-like compounds is the main focus of this dissertation. Utilizing artificial maturation studies, like hydrothermal liquefaction, yields useful information regarding how plant material is preserved in coals and the potential certain plant biopolymers possess to generate liquid fuels is acquired. The studies within this dissertation focus on utilizing the aliphatic biopolymers, cutin, cutan, and suberan, found in the epidermis of certain plants. These biopolymers contain minimal amounts of heteroatoms and are comprised of long polymethylenic chains, which are desirable characteristics in generating bio-oils. Additionally, understanding the chemical alterations that occur to these biopolymers during maturation is essential in evaluating their geochemical preservation in coals. To evaluate the potential suberan has to become incorporated into coals and generate expelled oils, hydrothermal liquefaction experiments were conducted on modern, Betula alleghaniensis bark, and ancient, a lignite rich in crypto-eugelinite, samples. Both the bark and the coal display characteristic crystalline and amorphous peaks in solid-state 13C NMR, which is indicative of the presence of suberan. The expelled oil products of both feedstocks were mainly comprised of saturated hydrocarbons. These results suggest that suberan can readily explain the existence of waxy crude oils typically associated with coals and Type III source rocks. The oil generating potential of cutan and cutin were evaluated using skins collected from Agave americana and Capsicum annumm. Both cuticular materials resulted in approximately 35% wt.% bio-oil yields and exhibited heating values of 40.5 MJ kg-1, comparable to those of typical crude petroleum. Furthermore, a two-step hydrothermal liquefaction experiment was successfully employed to reduce the heteroatom content of the produced Agave americana bio-oil. Another focus of this dissertation is understanding the fate of plant materials during peatification and coalification. Humic acids were isolated from several peat swamps across the U.S. as well as a low rank collected from the Yallourn Open Cut in Australia, and analyzed using high resolution mass spectrometry and solid-state 13C NMR. From these analyses photochemically produced particulate organic matter was observed in all the samples. The presence of this material in peats and coals can likely explain the origin of ubiquitously occurring fusinite, macrinite, micrinite, and related inertinite macerals in coal

Correlation of spontaneous combustion liability indices and basis for coal analysis for reported Witbank Coal, South Africa

Abstract: The self-heating of coal due to oxidation potentially leading to its ignition is called “spontaneous combustion”. The characterisation of the physical and chemical properties of coal on a standard provides an understanding of its characteristics towards spontaneous combustion. The liability of coal to undergo spontaneous combustion for selected coal samples obtained from the Witbank Coalfields was examined using different spontaneous combustion tests. The simple indices [crossing point temperature (XPT) and Stage II Slope] obtained from differential thermal analysis and composite indices [FCC (Feng, Chakravorty, Cochrane) and Wits-Ehac Indices] were used to examine the liabilities of 30 coal samples. The test results are examined and presented according to the readily recognisable characteristics known to be indicators of self-heating liability. Two characteristics obtained from a differential thermogram (XPT and Stage II Slope) are evaluated as indicative of the liability of coal to self-heat. The simple indices provide inconsistent predictions of spontaneous combustion liability, while the composite liability indices provide more reliable results...M.Tech. (Extraction Metallurgy