A KINETIC MODEL FOR THERMALLY INDUCED HYDROGEN AND CARBON ISOTOPE FRACTIONATION OF INDIVIDUAL N-ALKANES IN CRUDE OIL

Abstract

A quantitative kinetic model has been proposed to simulate the large D and 13C isotope enrichments observed in individual n-alkanes (C13–C21) during artificial thermal maturation of a North Sea crude oil under anhydrous, closed-system conditions. Under our experimental conditions, average n-alkane δ13C values increase by ∼4‰ and δD values increase by ∼50‰ at an equivalent vitrinite reflectance value of 1.5%. While the observed 13C-enrichment shows no significant dependence on hydrocarbon chain length, thermally induced D-enrichment increases with increasing n-alkane carbon number. This differential fractionation effect is speculated to be due to the combined effect of the greater extent of thermal cracking of higher molecular weight, n-alkanes compared to lower molecular weight homologues, and the generation of isotopically lighter, lower molecular weight compounds. This carbon-number-linked hydrogen isotopic fractionation behavior could form the basis of a new maturity indicator to quantitatively assess the extent of oil cracking in petroleum reservoirs. Quantum mechanical calculations of the average change in enthalpy (ΔΔH‡) and entropy (ΔΔS‡) as a result of isotopic substitution in n-alkanes undergoing homolytic cleavage of C-C bonds lead to predictions of isotopic fractionation that agree quite well with our experimental results. For n-C20 (n-icosane), the changes in enthalpy are calculated to be ∼1340 J mol-1 (320 cal mol-1) and 230 J mol-1 (55 cal mol-1) for D-H and 13C-12C, respectively. Because the enthalpy term associated with hydrogen isotope fractionation is approximately six times greater than that for carbon, variations in δD values for individual long-chain hydrocarbons provide a highly sensitive measure of the extent of thermal alteration experienced by the oil. Extrapolation of the kinetic model to typical geological heating conditions predicts significant enrichment in 13C and D for n-icosane at equivalent vitrinite reflectance values corresponding to the onset of thermal cracking of normal alkanes. The experimental and theoretical results of this study have significant implications for the use of compound-specific hydrogen isotope data in petroleum geochemical and paleoclimatological studies. However, there are many other geochemical processes that will significantly affect observed hydrogen isotopic compositions (e.g., biodegradation, water washing, isotopic exchange with water and minerals) that must also be taken into consideration.