Kinetic study of the hydrocarbon generation from Upper Paleozoic coals in Ordos Basin

Kinetic parameters were characterized for the formation of the C1–C5 hydrocarbons generating from Taiyuan and Shanxi coal in the Upper Paleozoic of the Ordos Basin, through pressurized simulation experiment designed for the kinetic study of hydrocarbon generation. Based on the palaeogeothermal evolution of the Upper Paleozoic strata in the Ordos Basin, the formation and evolution of gas from Taiyuan and Shanxi coal in the eastern and central regions of the Ordos Basin were reproduced, and it is suggested that large scale secondary hydrocarbon generation does not exist during the uplifting and cooling process of the basin at the end of Early Cretaceous. Some of the factors affecting the behavior of the coal-generated gas were also discussed, and it is emphasized that the most fundamental element determining the hydrocarbon generation behavior is the characteristic of the precursor hydrocarbon-source rock.