The Rock-Eval Method

François Baudin is Professor of sedimentology and petroleum geology at Sorbonne Université, France. His research focuses on the processes controlling the preservation and distribution of organic matter in sedimentary rocks, recent sediments and soils.

Presentation of Units, Symbols and Acronyms xi

List of Formulae xv

Chapter 1 Historical Perspectives 1
Violaine LAMOUREUX-VAR, Nicolas BOUTON and François BAUDIN

1.1 History of Rock-Eval® 1

1.2 Geographical distribution of Rock-Eval devices worldwide and areas of application of the method 8

Chapter 2 Principles and Methods 11
Violaine LAMOUREUX-VAR, Nicolas BOUTON, Jean ESPITALIÉ and Yves BENOIT

2.1 Analysis process 11

2.2 Schematic diagram of the Rock-Eval 6 analyzer 12

2.3 Detectors 13

2.4 Thermograms 14

2.5 Methods and cycles 20

2.6 Rock-Eval 7 Sulfur 21

2.7 Pollut-Eval 24

Chapter 3 Parameters and Illustration of Results 29
Lauric CÉCILLON, Pierre BARRÉ, Yves BENOIT, Yoann COPARD and Maria-Fernanda ROMERO-SARMIENTO

3.1 Introduction 29

3.2 Rock-Eval® signals and basic parameters 30

3.3 Key parameters for oil exploration 36

3.4 Parameters developed for soil analysis 39

3.5 Development in progress on the mathematical processing of thermograms 44

Chapter 4 Guidance on Sampling, Effects of Mineral Matrix and Other Artifacts on Thermograms 45
François BAUDIN, Yves BENOIT and Nicolas BOUTON

4.1 Sample collection, preparation and conservation 45

4.2 Mineral matrix effects 54

4.3 Other artifacts on thermograms related to the presence of minerals 63

4.4 Other artifacts and abnormal signals of instrumental origin 67

Chapter 5 Comparison with Other Methods 73
Nicolas BOUTON and Jérémie AMMOUIAL

5.1 The Rock-Eval method at the crossroads of classical analytical methods 73

5.2 Elemental analysis 74

5.3 Chromatography 76

5.4 Thermal analysis 77

5.5 Comparison with other analyzers of the same type 78

5.6 Comparison with other types of samples 82

Chapter 6 Characterization of Petroleum Source Rocks 85
Maria-Fernanda ROMERO-SARMIENTO

6.1 Introduction 85

6.2 Characterization of conventional oil source rocks and isolated organic matter (kerogens) 87

6.3 Characterization of oil samples 90

6.4 Characterization of hydrocarbons from source rocks 91

6.5 Composition of hydrocarbons detected by Rock-Eval® pyrolysis 93

6.6 Estimation of hydrocarbon reserves in place 97

6.7 Estimation of free hydrocarbons in porous media 99

Chapter 7 Determining the Parameters of Thermal Cracking of Fossil Organic Matter 101
Françoise BEHAR

7.1 Introduction 101

7.2 Basic equations for thermal cracking 103

7.3 Experimental determination of kinetic parameters of kerogen 107

7.4 Calculation of the overall kinetic parameters of kerogen in an open system 111

7.5 Acquisition and optimization of kinetic parameters E and A 113

7.6 How are the absolute values of E and A, obtained in the laboratory, used to calculate the values of TR under geological conditions? 115

7.7 Summary 122

Chapter 8 Characterization of Sulfur Compounds 125
Jean ESPITALIÉ, Violaine LAMOUREUX-VAR and Nicolas BOUTON

8.1 Introduction 125

8.2 Experimental device 127

8.3 Characterization of sulfur in kerogens 128

8.4 Characterization of sulfur in oil source rocks 136

8.5 Kinetics of cracking of the organosulfur compounds of organic matter 142

8.6 Characterization of sulfur in oils 145

8.7 Characterization of sulfur in reservoir rocks 148

8.8 Prospects for the application of Rock-Eval 7 Sulfur in understanding the sulfur sedimentary cycle 150

8.9 Prospects for the application of Rock-Eval 7S in industry 152

Chapter 9 Study of Organic Matter in Recent Sediments 153
Yoann COPARD and François BAUDIN

9.1 Introduction 153

9.2 Reminder of the principles of analysis of recent sediments by the Rock-Eval method 154

9.3 Analysis of fresh organic matter and pure compounds 155

9.4 Continental archives as witnesses of environmental changes 158

9.5 Coastal and marine environments 166

9.6 Relationships between organic matter and contaminant concentrations 176

Chapter 10 Characterization and Evaluation of the Stability of Soil Organic Matter 181
Pierre BARRÉ, Lauric CÉCILLON and Eva KANARI

10.1 Introduction 181

10.2 Relevance and general teachings of Rock-Eval analysis of soil samples 182

10.3 Difficulties in linking the Rock-Eval signature and chemical composition of soil organic matter 190

10.4 Evaluation of soil organic carbon stability by Rock-Eval 194

10.5 Quantifying soil organic carbon stability using Rock-Eval with a view to improving soil carbon dynamics models 200

10.6 Conclusion 207

Chapter 11 Study of Natural and Anthropogenic Events 209
Yoann COPARD and François BAUDIN

11.1 Introduction 209

11.2 Events of geological origin 210

11.3 Fires and signature of incomplete combustion residues 216

11.4 Weathering versus syndiagenetic oxidation 217

11.5 Artificial oxidation 222

Chapter 12 Detection and Monitoring of Oil Pollution in the Environment 225
Yves BENOIT

12.1 Introduction 225

12.2 The Pollut-Eval method 227

12.3 Influence of the natural organic matrix of soils on the observed responses 234

Chapter 13 Analysis of Carbonates 241
François BAUDIN, Nicolas BOUTON and Adrien WATTRIPONT

13.1 Reminder of the principles of mineral carbon analysis using the Rock-Eval method 241

13.2 Kinetic effects 243

13.3 Artifacts 250

13.4 Discrimination and quantification of different carbonate mineral species using the Rock-Eval method 253

13.5 Corrections in case of the presence of siderite 256

13.6 From Rock-Eval MinC to carbonate percentage 260

13.7 TOC and MinC relationships in sediments and sedimentary rocks 262

13.8 Concluding remarks 264

Chapter 14 What’s Next for Rock-Eval? 267
François BAUDIN and Nicolas BOUTON

References 271

List of Authors 299

Index 301