Kerogen chemistry 5. Anhydride formation in, solvent swelling of, and loss of organics on demineralization of Kimmeridge shales

The results of three short and related, but experimentally independent, studies of 4 Kimmeridge shales and their kerogens are reported. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) studies of the kerogens reveal that three of the four show evidence of anhydride formation when heated at 20 °C/min between 50 °C and 180 °C. There is no regular rank dependence of anhydride formation. After solvent swelling in tetrahydrofuran (THF), extracted organics were isolated from the THF and the recovered kerogens were swollen a second time in fresh THF. The second solvent swelling ratios were slightly larger than the first because the presence of the extracts in the original THF lowers solvent activity thus reducing swelling. The shales were demineralized in the usual way except that methylene chloride was added to dissolve any organics that were liberated from the rock as a consequence of mineral dissolution. Small amounts of organics were found in the methylene chloride supporting Price and Claytonʹs conclusion that organics are expelled from the kerogen and are present in lacunae in the minerals.