Organic-rich shale oil reservoirs with low-medium maturity
have
attracted increasing attention because of their enormous oil and gas
potential. In this work, a series of experiments on pyrolysis of the
particle and core samples were carried out in a self-made supercritical
water pyrolysis apparatus to evaluate the feasibility and benefits
of supercritical water in promoting the transformation efficiency
and oil yield of the low-medium maturity organic-rich shale. Core
samples had a mass loss of 8.4% under supercritical water pyrolysis,
and many microcracks were generated, which increased the pyrolysis
efficiency substantially. The oil yield of shale pyrolysis could reach
72.40% under supercritical water conditions at 23 MPa and 400 °C,
which was 53.02% higher than that under anhydrous conditions. In supercritical
water conditions, oxygen-containing compounds are less abundant than
in anhydrous conditions, suggesting that supercritical water can inhibit
their formation. Also, supercritical water conditions produced higher
yields for light fraction, medium fraction, and heavy fraction shale
oil than those under anhydrous conditions. These results indicate
that supercritical water pyrolysis is feasible and has excellent advantages
for low-medium maturity organic-rich shale.