Geomechanical property changes with hydrous pyrolysis in Mahogany oil shale in Green River Formation
type: CreativeWork
description: The formation characteristics of organic-rich shales have proven to be affected by mineralogical composition, total organic content, water concentration, and bedding-plane orientation along with other parameters. However, it is not known with good accuracy what types of influence thermal maturation has on the immature organic matter on geomechanical properties of the formations. In order to quantify the behavior of the oil shale samples under thermal maturation, it is imperative to understand its elastic properties. Thus, it becomes vital to understand the shale’s elastic properties via geomechanical analysis of the selected core samples. In this experimental study, vertical core samples of Mahogany shale in Green River formation from the Anvil Points mine site were selected. These samples possess immature organic content consisting of Type-I kerogen. This study consists of an experimental investigation to comprehend if thermal maturation of immature organic matter has an impact on the geomechanical properties of shale formation. Hydrous pyrolysis experiments were conducted to represent the four different stages of petroleum formation: temperature ranges that represent the bitumen generation (300°C), bitumen generation and initial oil generation (330°C), oil generation (360°C) and the oil cracking to gas (390°C). The samples were tested in these four different temperature states were analyzed later for the changes in their geomechanical properties. The geomechanical properties are evaluated in terms of dynamic elastic properties and resistivity. Unfortunately, the pyrolyzed samples had sustained a heavy loss of their mechanical strength and integrity due to the expansion because of the samples undergoing thermal maturation resulting in their infringement. The weakening prevented us from analyzing the changes in static properties. However, investigation of the changes in dynamic elastic properties and resistivity was possible. The samples were evaluated for dynamic e…
abstract: The formation characteristics of organic-rich shales have proven to be affected by mineralogical composition, total organic content, water concentration, and bedding-plane orientation along with other parameters. However, it is not known with good accuracy what types of influence thermal maturation has on the immature organic matter on geomechanical properties of the formations. In order to quantify the behavior of the oil shale samples under thermal maturation, it is imperative to understand its elastic properties. Thus, it becomes vital to understand the shale’s elastic properties via geomechanical analysis of the selected core samples. In this experimental study, vertical core samples of Mahogany shale in Green River formation from the Anvil Points mine site were selected. These samples possess immature organic content consisting of Type-I kerogen. This study consists of an experimental investigation to comprehend if thermal maturation of immature organic matter has an impact on the geomechanical properties of shale formation. Hydrous pyrolysis experiments were conducted to represent the four different stages of petroleum formation: temperature ranges that represent the bitumen generation (300°C), bitumen generation and initial oil generation (330°C), oil generation (360°C) and the oil cracking to gas (390°C). The samples were tested in these four different temperature states were analyzed later for the changes in their geomechanical properties. The geomechanical properties are evaluated in terms of dynamic elastic properties and resistivity. Unfortunately, the pyrolyzed samples had sustained a heavy loss of their mechanical strength and integrity due to the expansion because of the samples undergoing thermal maturation resulting in their infringement. The weakening prevented us from analyzing the changes in static properties. However, investigation of the changes in dynamic elastic properties and resistivity was possible. The samples were evaluated for dynamic e…
author: Mohanraj, Keerthikanand
language: eng
language: English
keywords: geomechanics, hydrous pyrolysis, oil shale, Green River Formation, geomechanical property analysis, Mahogany oil shale
identifier: T 8632
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:43:42Z
provider: Colorado School of Mines
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Colorado School of Mines. Arthur Lakes Library

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/11124/172818