Extraction of high molecular weight hydrocarbons from source rocks: an example from the Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, Utah

Abstract

Results of extraction experiments performed on immature Green River Formation source rock samples from the Black Shale Facies (Uinta Basin, Utah) demonstrate the potential of extracting high molecular weight hydrocarbons (HMWHC) with sequential dichloromethane:methanol/soxhlet and p-xylene/sonication techniques. The first soxhlet extraction step with DCM:MeOH removes lower molecular weight alkanes from the source rock while the HMWHC remain in the rock residue. Sonication of the rock residue with p-xylene recovers these HMWHC, showing distinct hydrocarbon distributions and preferences in high temperature gas chromatograms. Extracts obtained by using p-xylene/soxhlet with original source rocks and sequential soxhlet extraction instead of sonication have relatively lower concentrations of HMWHC. Sequential extraction of two other source rock types (Mahogany Shale and Black Shale Facies coal) did not result in detection of similar HMWHC in the extract. This indicates that the presence of these compounds in the Black Shale Facies of the Green River Formation is a primary source signal and a specific characteristic of this source rock.