Determination and analysis of optimal kinetic parameters for hydrocarbon generation from source rock sequences of Cambay basin, India

Pyrolysis studies have been carried out on 16 rock samples, containing type III organic matter, of Paleogene age from the Cambay basin. Kinetic parameters for hydrocarbon generation were obtained by mathematical optimization of pyrolysis curves, assuming a discrete distribution of activation energies with a constant preexponential factor. The values of the initial potentials, corresponding to the first few activation energies, are used to throw light on the thermal stress undergone by the samples, while the values corresponding to the last few activation energies are used to infer the depositional environment. The study indicates that Tmax is mainly determined by the set of activation energies associated with the dominant initial generation potentials.