Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-25T14:20:46.625Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Smectite to illite conversion by hydrous pyrolysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

E. Roaldset
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Mineral Resources Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7034 Trondheim, Norway
He Wei
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Mineral Resources Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7034 Trondheim, Norway
S. Grimstad
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Mineral Resources Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7034 Trondheim, Norway

Abstract

Experimental illitization of smectite has been simulated by means of hydrous pyrolysis, using a smectite-rich starting material from a Lower Tertiary claystone from the Oseberg field, North Sea. The <2 µm fraction was subjected to hydrous pyrolysis using KCL solutions at concentrations of 1.0 and 0.01 N, temperatures from 180-350°C and reaction times from 24-72 h. The conversion of smectite into illite has been identified by XRD analysis of the pyrolysed products. It was clearly demonslrated that the K+ concentration ([K+]) and temperature are the major factors controlling the rate and extent of illitization. The distributions of activation energies around 33 kcal/mol and frequency factors in the range of 10+8 to 10+9 S-1 have been calculated by applying a parallel reaction model. However, geological modelling and comparison with buried smectite clays indicates that both 1.0 n and 0.01 N KCL are too high in K+ content compared to the pore-water. The results suggest that dilute KCL solution close to pore-water should be used in hydrous pyrolysis to obtain proper kinetic models.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altaner, S.P. (1990) Calculation of K diffusional rates in bentonite beds. Geochim. Cosmochim. Ada, 53, 923931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Awwiller, D.N. (1993) Illite/smectite formation and potassium mass transfer during diagenesis of mudstones: a study from the Texas Gulf Coast Paleocene-Eocene. J. Sed. Pet. 63, 501512.Google Scholar
Bethke, C.M. & Altaner, S.P. (1986) Layer-by-layer mechanism of smectite illitization and application to a new rate law. Clays Clay Miner. 34, 136–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bethke, C.M., Vergo, N. & Altaner, S.P. (1986) Pathways of smectite illitization. Clays Clay Miner. 34, 125135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boles, J. R. & Franks, S. G. (1979) Clay diagenesis in Wilcox sandstones of Southwest Texas: Implications of smectite diagenesis on sandstone cementation. J. Sed. Pet. 49, 5570.Google Scholar
Bouchet, A., Proust, D., Meunier, A. & Beaufort, D. (1988) High-charge to low-charge smectite reaction in hydrothermal alteration processes. Clay Miner. 23, 133146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deng, X., Sun, Y., Lei, X. & Lu, Q. (1996) Illite/smectite diagenesis in the NanXiang, Yitong, and North China Permian-Carboniferous basins: application to petroleum exploration in China. A.A.P.G. Bull. 80, 157173.Google Scholar
Eberl, D.D. & Hower, J. (1976) Kinetics of illite formation. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 87, 13261330.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D.D., Velde, B. & McCormick, T. (1993) Synthesis of illite-smectite from smectite at earth surface temperatures and high pH. Clay Miner. 28, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D.D., Whitney, G. & Khoury, H. (1978) Hydrothermal reactivity of smectite. Am. Miner. 63, 401409.Google Scholar
Ersdal, G. (1992) Svelletrykk I leire og leirstein sett i relasjon til mineralogisk og geokjemisk sammensetning. (Swelling pressures of clays and clay stones in relation to mineralogical and geochemical composition). Thesis, Geology, Univ. Oslo, Norway.Google Scholar
Eslinger, E. & Sellars, B. (1981) Evidence for the formation of illite from smectite during burial metamorphism in the Belt Supergroup, Clark Fork, Idaho. J. Sed. Pet. 51, 203216.Google Scholar
Hillier, S. & Clayton, T. (1989) Illite/smectite diagenesis in Devonian Lacustrine mudrocks from Northern Scotland and its relationship to organic maturity indicators. Clay Miner. 24, 181196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, J.J. (1981) Lithium and potassium saturation of illite/smectite clays from interlaminated shales and sandstones. Clays Clay Miner. 29, 136142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, J.J. & Roy, D.M. (1985) Development of layer charge and kinetics of experimental smectite alteration. Clays Clay Miner. 33, 8188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hower, J., Eslinger, E.V., Hower, M.E. & Perry, E.A. (1976) Mechanism of burial metamorphism of argillaceous sediment: 1. Mineralogical and chemical evidence. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. g7, 725737.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, W.-L., Longo, T.M. & Pevear, D.R. (1993) An experimentally derived kinetic model fro smectite to illite conversion and its use as a geothermometer. Clays Clay Miner. 41, 162177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inoue, A. (1983) Potassium fixation by clay minerals during hydrothermal treatment. Clays Clay Miner. 31, 8191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlsson, W., Vollset, J., Bjørlykke, K. & Jorgensen, P. (1979) Changes in mineralogical composition of Tertiary sediments from North Sea wells. Proc. lnt. Clay Conf. Oxford, 281-289.Google Scholar
Lindgreen, H. & Hansen, P.L. (1991) Ordering of illitesmectite in Upper Jurassic claystones from the North Sea. Clay Miner. 26, 105125 .CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, D.M. & Reynolds, R.C. (1989) X-ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Norrish, K. & Taylor, R.M. (1962) Quantitative analysis by X-ray diffraction. Clay Miner. Bull. 5, 98109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, R.B., Clayton, T. & Kemp, A.E.S. (1991) Illitization and organic maturity in Silurian sediments from the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Clay Miner. 26, 199210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, M.J. & Small .J.S. (1988) Illite-smectite diagenesis and palaeotemperatures in Northern North Sea Quaternary to Mesozoic shale sequences. Clay Miner. 23, 109132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, M.J., Watkins, D. & Small, J. S. (1981) Clay diagenesis and organic maturation in Northern North Sea sediments. Proc. lnt. Clay Conf. Bologna-Pavia, 665-675.Google Scholar
Perry, E.A. & Hower, J. (1970) Burial diagenesis in Gulf Pelitic sediments. Clays Clay Miner. 18, 165177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pytte, A.M. (1982) The kinetics of the smectite to illite reaction in contact metamorphic shales. MA thesis, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.Google Scholar
Roaldset, E., Bergan, M., Gjelsvik, N., Hauge, J. & Svendsen, O. (1984a) Tertiary claystones from well 30/9-3 A, Core 1. Unpublished Internal Norsk Hydro Report. Google Scholar
Roaldset, E., Bergan, M., Gjelsvik, N. & Torske, L. (1984b) Tertiary claystones from well 30/9-3A, Report II: Sidewell cores 1650-2300 m. Unpublished Internal Norsk Hydro Report. Google Scholar
Roberson, H.E. & Lahann, R.W. (1981) Smectite to illite conversion rates: effects of solution chemistry. Clays Clay Miner. 29, 129135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smart, G. & Clayton, T. (1985) The progressive illitization of interstratified illite-smectite from Carboniferous sediments of Northern England and its relationship to organic maturity indicators. Clay Miner. 20, 455466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sucha, V., Kraus, I., Gerthofferova, H., Petes, J. & Serekova, M. (1993) Smectite to illite conversion in bentonites and shales of the East Slovak Basin. Clay Miner. 28, 243253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tissot, B.P. & Welte, D.H. (1984) Petroleum Formation and Occurrence, 2nd ed., Springer, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wensaas, L., Shaw, H.F., Gibbons, K., Aagaard, P. & Dypvik, H. (1994) Nature and causes of overpressuring in mudrocks of Gullfaks area, North Sea. Clay Miner. 29, 439449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, H., Roaldset, E. & Bjorør, M. (1996) Parallel reaction kinetics of smectite to illite conversion. Clay Miner 31, 365376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitney, G. & Northrop, H.R. (1988) Experimental investigation of the smectite to illite reaction: Dual reaction mechanisms and oxygen-isotope systematics. Am. Miner. 73, 7790.Google Scholar