Maturity Control on the Patterns of Hydrocarbon Regeneration from Coal

Rock-Eval pyrolysis and Py-GC experiments on naturally and artificially matured coal samples were carried out. The results suggest that both depolymerization and defuctionalization exist during the maturation and evolution of coal. The patterns of hydrocarbon regeneration are diverse at different stages of the maturation and evolution. When the vitrinite reflectance (R0) is 0.7%- 0.9%, bitumen is the richest in coal while activation energy is the minimum, and the temperature of peak yield is lower than that of primary hydrocarbon generation. However, if reflectance is greater than 0.9%, defunctionalization predominates and the temperature of peak regeneration is shown in lagging compared with the primary hydrocarbon generation. When reflectance is out of the "oil window", the peak temperature of hydrocarbon regeneration and that of the primary hydrocarbon generation seems to be continuous.