ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Pore Accessibility and Competition for Pore Space between Light Alkanes in Petroliferous Shales at the Wet-gas Thermal Maturity

Abstract: Understanding petroleum in shale reservoirs is broadly relevant given the current emphasis on these resources in the U.S. and developing interest worldwide. Petroleum in shale reservoirs is stored in organic matter and mineral pore space. However, the pore size distribution of methane vs. higher alkanes in shales is unclear. We propose to examine pore accessibility and competition for open pore space between methane and ethane in a shale sample at the wet-gas stage of thermal maturity. Competition for available pore space in the sample will be assessed by monitoring adsorption of a methane/ethane mixture and comparing the results to the adsorption of methane only. We hypothesize that methane will prefer smaller pores fractionating ethane within larger pores. If true, this suggests that when assessing shale reservoirs for C2+ alkanes an understanding of fine porosity may be unimportant.

Public release date: 29 July 2025

Principal Investigator: Dr Aaron Jubb
Experimenter: Dr Justin Birdwell
Local Contact: Dr Tristan Youngs
Experimenter: Dr Tom Headen
Experimenter: Ms Leslie Ruppert

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2010249-1

Parent DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2010249

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2010249

Part Number: 1

Date of Experiment: 25 July 2022

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find out more about it.

Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Aaron Jubb et al; (2022): Pore Accessibility and Competition for Pore Space between Light Alkanes in Petroliferous Shales at the Wet-gas Thermal Maturity, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2010249-1

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.