High Temperature Steam Extraction for the Determination of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons in Petroleum Source Rock

A simple method for the extraction of hydrocarbons from petroleum source rock by high temperature steam was investigated and the conditions for maximum yield were determined. The results showed that the temperature and kinetic rates have significant effects. The optimum temperature for the extraction of n-alkanes and isoprenoid hydrocarbons from sedimentary organic rocks was 250 °C. The optimum extraction time for lower and medium molecular weight n-alkanes was 20 min, while the higher molecular weight alkanes were exhaustively extracted after 50 min. The yields of the analytes were much higher with using the high temperature steam extraction than Soxhlet extraction. The recoveries of the n-alkanes for GC–MS analysis from the extractant water by SPME with a PDMS fibre ranged from 90 to 100% and most of the compounds were above 93%.