Distribution and origin of organic compounds in the condensates from a Mexican high-temperature geothermal field

Abstract

We report herein for the first time, the presence and relative composition of medium volatility organic compounds in samples from a super-hot geothermal field in Mexico. We sampled ten water/vapor condensates from active exploitation wells from Los Humeros Geothermal field. We identified 48 compounds, being alkanes, aromatics and S-bearing the predominant homologues, followed by O-bearing. Evidence suggests that the origin of the hydrocarbons is mainly thermogenic derived from hydrothermal alteration of buried organic matter, supported by the presence of aromatics, S-bearing and an alkane CPI below 1. The results of this study increase the scarce knowledge of dissolved organic fraction in hydrothermal systems.