The project proposed to produce a public domain, user-friendly, graphically intuitive basin model operating on a PC or low-end workstation that would have all the functionality of current 2-D modeling systems but also provide advanced chemical capabilities (compositional maturity indicator and petroleum maturation kinetic models, compositional petroleum property models, and gas-washing models).
Program
This project was selected in response to DOE's Oil Exploration and Production solicitation DE-RA26-98BC15200. The solicitation responded to a DOE request for proposals to "integrate prospecting concepts" by "modeling dynamic sedimentary hydrocarbon systems" with "programs that can be operated on 'desktop' or workstation systems" and that are "user-friendly".
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
GeoGroup Inc.
Ithaca, NY
The project addressed the barrier to industry and science of the high cost of conventional basin models and their chemical poverty.
Project Results
The project produced a user-friendly conventional 2-D basin model with easy user input of section data, tools to infer heat flow and sediment thermal conductivity, maturation data bases to verify the time-temperature history calculated, compositional kinetic models for the maturation of kerogens, mixing of petroleums from up to two different source strata, and tools to determine petroleum properties and petroleum alteration by gas washing.
Benefits
Benefits result from the ease of basin modeling and the ease with which advanced chemical capabilities can be applied to the basin models to constrain the timing of hydrocarbon maturation and the possible chemistry of migrated petroleums.
Project Summary
The project produced:
(July 2005)
The project is complete, and the program is available, with supporting manual and derivative literature, at http://ruby.wag.caltech.edu/basin and at http://www.geo.cornell.edu/eas/research/GeoModeling/BasinLAB/.
Publication
Annual and final reports submitted to DOE.
$1,492,367
$373,091 (20% of total)
NETL - Virginia Weyland ( virginia.weyland@netl.doe.gov or 918-699-2041)
Calif. Inst. of Technology- William Goddard (wag@wag.caltech.edu or 626-395-2731)
Cornell Univ.- Lawrence M. Cathles (Cathles@geology.cornell or 607-255-2844)