Pore structure characteristic of the Kroh black shale using field emission scanning electron microscopy and Nitrogen BET

Marine Paleozoic rocks account for about 25 of the surface Peninsular Malaysia. Black shales have primarily attracted interest from geologists in terms of their economic importance in hydrocarbon generation potential. The pore structue and pore size distributions of twenty shale samples from the Upper Ordovician to Lower Devonian Kroh Formation in the upper Perak were examined by using Nitrogen gas adsorption (N2 GA) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) eccupied by EDX techniques. The results of FE-SEM showed that the shale samples mainly composed quartz, kaolinite, and illite. The pores in shale have been classified into three types; two were associated with mineral matrix such as interparticle pores found in particles and clay flakes, and intraparticle pores found within particles or grains, while the third pore type were related to the organic matter (OM). The result of N2 adsorption analysis of the shale samples revealed that the pressure adsorption showed significant differences in surface area and pore volumes. Pore size distributions of all the Kroh shale samples they were predominantly multi-modal only few samples has unimodal pore sizes distribution with the shale median pore throat range = 10 to 100 nm. The pore volume has mesopores ranging from 2 to 50 nm, while the main specific surface area has micro-pores less than 2 nm and mesopores less than 50 nm. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.