Geologic and geochemical processes that impact fuel quality, quantity, and availability can be best understood by utilizing a range of approaches, including, but not limited to isotopic signatures, inorganic and organic analyses, and neutron scattering techniques. Current work focuses on using neutron scattering to understand how fluids are stored and flow through tight continuous reservoirs and the use of statistical machine learning techniques to classify waste products from energy utilization. Work in this task is used to inform assessments and land managers.
Below are other science projects associated with this project task.
Geochemistry of Energy Fuels Project
Molecular Fingerprinting of Energy Materials
Byproducts of Energy Fuels
NORM Byproducts of Energy Resources
Microbial Methanogenesis and Strategies for Enhancements
Maps of Energy Occurrence
Trace Elements in Energy Fuels
Controls on Unconventional Oil and Gas Production
Below are publications associated with this project task.
Exploring methane behavior in Marcellus Shale micropores via contrast matching neutron scattering
Compositional data analysis of coal combustion products with an application to a Wyoming power plant
Radiocarbon chronometry of Site QJ-280, Quebrada Jaguay, a terminal Pleistocene to early Holocene fishing site in southern Peru
Subseasonal variations in marine reservoir age from pre-bomb Donax obesulus and Protothaca asperrima shell carbonate
Porosity of the Marcellus Shale: A contrast matching small-angle neutron scattering study
Nanometre-sized pores in coal: Variations between coal basins and coal origin
Neutron scattering measurements of carbon dioxide adsorption in pores within the Marcellus Shale: Implications for sequestration
Leaching of trace elements from Pittsburgh coal mill rejects compared with coal combustion products from a coal-fired power plant in Ohio, USA
Carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of coal and carbon dioxide derived from laboratory coal combustion: A preliminary study
Notes on the origin of copromacrinite based on nitrogen functionalities and δ13C and δ15N determined on samples from the Peach Orchard coal bed, southern Magoffin County, Kentucky
Radiometric dating of marine-influenced coal using Re–Os geochronology
Re–Os age for the Lower–Middle Pennsylvanian Boundary and comparison with associated palynoflora
- Overview
Geologic and geochemical processes that impact fuel quality, quantity, and availability can be best understood by utilizing a range of approaches, including, but not limited to isotopic signatures, inorganic and organic analyses, and neutron scattering techniques. Current work focuses on using neutron scattering to understand how fluids are stored and flow through tight continuous reservoirs and the use of statistical machine learning techniques to classify waste products from energy utilization. Work in this task is used to inform assessments and land managers.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project task.
Geochemistry of Energy Fuels Project
Since its establishment in 1879, USGS geoscientists have investigated the geochemistry of energy resources. Research conducted in the Geochemistry of Energy Fuels project continues this tradition. Goals include 1) understanding the geologic, geochemical, microbiological, and other factors that control production, quality, and composition of coal, petroleum, and nuclear fuels, and 2) predicting the...Molecular Fingerprinting of Energy Materials
The chemical composition of complex solid organic matter (OM) from sedimentary reservoirs is a key parameter in the generation of hydrocarbon fuels. Vibrational spectroscopies such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman have been widely applied to understand the molecular make-up of these hydrocarbon precursors, as well as provide links to their thermal histories via correlation to proven...Byproducts of Energy Fuels
This task provides detailed information on the use and resource potential of energy by-products, as well as controls on the potential mobility of contaminants resulting from transport, storage, and disposal of these byproducts. Specific topics investigated include 1) transport and fate of organic and inorganic contaminants during storage and disposal of waste coal and coal combustion byproducts...NORM Byproducts of Energy Resources
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) is found in waste produced during the extraction of uranium, phosphate, rare earth elements (REE), coal, oil and gas resources. The focus of this effort is to understand the potential for byproduct recovery of U-235 and Th-232, the fissionable isotopes used to generate nuclear energy from wastes produced during energy resource development. The NORM...Microbial Methanogenesis and Strategies for Enhancements
Microbial (biogenic) natural gas is present in shale, coal and petroleum reservoirs and is estimated to account for 20% of the world’s natural gas resources. We provide hydrological, geochemical and microbial information related to the production of biogenic natural gas and new methods to monitor and enhance the production of this energy resource. Generating microbial methane at a faster rate from...Maps of Energy Occurrence
The primary objective of this task is to produce digital maps coal-bearing areas and related energy sources and materials of the U.S., and internationally. The approach for creating GIS representations of energy sources of the U.S. and the world is to use existing geologic GIS data where possible, supplemented by data on location, rank and age from published maps and reports. Each GIS database...Trace Elements in Energy Fuels
In this task we conduct new interpretive studies of the concentration and distribution of trace metals and mercury in coal and other energy materials. Complementary studies of coal combustion products are conducted under Task 8. Together with use of existing USGS databases, we examine the potential for reducing emissions of potentially toxic substances by coal preparation, and by optimizing coal...Controls on Unconventional Oil and Gas Production
This scoping task incorporates insights from new approaches to production of unconventional resources and currently focuses on conducting a pilot assessment of biogenic natural gas resources in the Permian Basin. For the pilot assessment to occur, we are developing a database that will host geochemical parameters known to be suggestive of microbial methanogenesis mined to the reservoir level for... - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project task.
Filter Total Items: 14Exploring methane behavior in Marcellus Shale micropores via contrast matching neutron scattering
Petroleum in shale reservoirs is hosted in organic matter and mineral pores as well as in natural fractures and voids. For thermally mature plays, e.g., the Marcellus Shale, methane and other light alkane gases are thought to be primarily contained in organic matter pores with radii ≦50 nm. Thus, in order to understand natural gas occurrence, transport, storage, and recoverability within unconventAuthorsAaron M. Jubb, Leslie F. Ruppert, Tristan G. A. Youngs, Thomas HeadenCompositional data analysis of coal combustion products with an application to a Wyoming power plant
A mathematically sound approach for summarizing chemical analyses of feed coal and all its combustion products (bottom ash, economizer fly ash, and fly ash) is presented. The nature of the data requires the application of compositional techniques when conducting statistical analysis, techniques that have not been applied before to the study of partitioning of elements between the coal that entersAuthorsJ. A. Martín-Fernández, Ricardo A. Olea, Leslie F. RuppertRadiocarbon chronometry of Site QJ-280, Quebrada Jaguay, a terminal Pleistocene to early Holocene fishing site in southern Peru
Excavations in 1970, 1996, and 1999 at Site QJ-280, Quebrada Jaguay, in southern Peru, yielded enough dateable terrestrial plant material to establish an extensive radiocarbon chronology for the site. QJ-280 is one of oldest well-dated fishing sites in the Americas: it was occupied from the terminal Pleistocene to the mid-Holocene (about 13,000–8,300 calibrated years BP) based on 42 terrestrial raAuthorsKevin B. Jones, Gregory W. L. Hodgins, Daniel H. SandweissSubseasonal variations in marine reservoir age from pre-bomb Donax obesulus and Protothaca asperrima shell carbonate
Two Donax obesulus and two Protothaca asperrima shells collected prior to the nuclear testing of the 1950's were micromilled at sub-seasonal resolution to yield new reservoir effect (ΔR) estimates for the coast of Peru. Shells from northern (4°40′S to 8°14′S) and central (13°52′S) Peru produced ΔR values of 123 ± 50 and 110 ± 49 years respectively. We found such values statistically indistinguishaAuthorsMiguel F. Etayo-Cadavid, C. Fred T. Andrus, Kevin B. Jones, Gregory W. L. HodginsPorosity of the Marcellus Shale: A contrast matching small-angle neutron scattering study
Neutron scattering techniques were used to determine the effect of mineral matter on the accessibility of water and toluene to pores in the Devonian Marcellus Shale. Three Marcellus Shale samples, representing quartz-rich, clay-rich, and carbonate-rich facies, were examined using contrast matching small-angle neutron scattering (CM-SANS) at ambient pressure and temperature. Contrast matching compoAuthorsJitendra Bahadur, Leslie F. Ruppert, Vitaliy Pipich, Richard Sakurovs, Yuri B. MelnichenkoNanometre-sized pores in coal: Variations between coal basins and coal origin
We have used small angle neutron scattering (SANS) to investigate the differences in methane and hexane penetration in pores in bituminous coal samples from the U.S., Canada, South Africa, and China, and maceral concentrates from Australian coals. This work is an extension of previous work that showed consistent differences between the extent of penetration by methane into 10–20 nm size pores in iAuthorsRichard Sakurovs, Lukas Koval, Mihaela Grigore, Anna Sokolava, Leslie F. Ruppert, Yuri B. MelnichenkoNeutron scattering measurements of carbon dioxide adsorption in pores within the Marcellus Shale: Implications for sequestration
Shale is an increasingly viable source of natural gas and a potential candidate for geologic CO2sequestration. Understanding the gas adsorption behavior on shale is necessary for the design of optimal gas recovery and sequestration projects. In the present study neutron diffraction and small-angle neutron scattering measurements of adsorbed CO2 in Marcellus Shale samples were conducted on the NearAuthorsKonstantinos L. Stefanopoulos, Tristan G. A. Youngs, Richard Sakurovs, Leslie F. Ruppert, Jitendra Bahadur, Yuri B. MelnichenkoLeaching of trace elements from Pittsburgh coal mill rejects compared with coal combustion products from a coal-fired power plant in Ohio, USA
We investigated the leachability of elements from mill rejects from the high-sulfur, bituminous Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal, using the synthetic groundwater leaching procedure (SGLP), long-term leaching (LTL), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), and compared their leaching behavior with that of three coal combustion prodAuthorsKevin B. Jones, Leslie F. RuppertCarbon and oxygen isotopic composition of coal and carbon dioxide derived from laboratory coal combustion: A preliminary study
The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has dramatically increased from the start of the industrial revolution in the mid-1700s to present levels exceeding 400 ppm. Carbon dioxide derived from fossil fuel combustion is a greenhouse gas and a major contributor to on-going climate change. Carbon and oxygen stable isotope geochemistry is a useful tool to help model and predict theAuthorsPeter D. Warwick, Leslie F. RuppertNotes on the origin of copromacrinite based on nitrogen functionalities and δ13C and δ15N determined on samples from the Peach Orchard coal bed, southern Magoffin County, Kentucky
This paper represents the first attempt to show, by means other than just petrographic ones, that one type of macrinite, herein designated copromacrinite, may result from macrofauna feces. For that purpose a combination of coal petrography, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental-analysis continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry methods were used to determine nitrogen functionalitieAuthorsBruno Valentim, Manuel Algarra, Alexandra Guedes, Leslie F. Ruppert, James C. HowerRadiometric dating of marine-influenced coal using Re–Os geochronology
Coal deposits are integral to understanding the structural evolution and thermal history of sedimentary basins and correlating contemporeous estuarine and fluvial delatic strata with marine sections. While marine shales may readily lend themselves to Re–Os dating due to the dominance of hydrogenous Re and Os, the lack of a chronometer for near-shore sedimentary environments hampers basinwide corrAuthorsGyana Ranjan Tripathy, Judith L. Hannah, Holly J. Stein, Nicholas J. Geboy, Leslie F. RuppertRe–Os age for the Lower–Middle Pennsylvanian Boundary and comparison with associated palynoflora
The Betsie Shale Member is a relatively thick and continuous unit that serves as a marker bed across the central Appalachian basin, in part because it includes an organic-rich shale unit at its base that is observable in drill logs. Deposited during a marine transgression, the Betsie Shale Member has been correlated to units in both Wales and Germany and has been proposed to mark the boundary betAuthorsNicholas J. Geboy, G.R Tripathy, Leslie F. Ruppert, C.F. Eble, B.M. Blake, J. L. Hannah, H. J. Stein