Hydrocarbon generation and expulsion from source rocks can either be modelled using the built-in capabilities in MigriX, or it can be provided as a grid (or constant) of expelled mass per area. It is also possible to simulate using HC injection from points or areas. This approach can be a fast and easy way of testing individual migration and fill/spill routes.
The source rock properties can easily be modified using the Source Rocks Table Editor, or they can be changed by setting directly the Source rock input parameters in the Project Workspace tree. Active source rocks will indicated by an oil droplet in the Project Workspace layer table (Figure 3.19). Source rock units can also be activated from the Geological events table by selecting the Source checkbox.
Figure 3.19 Layer model with active source rock units at 142Ma and 143Ma.
MigriX will by default model with a 4-component (dry gas, wet gas, light oil, oil) system, but more components can easily be added. See the oil and gas composition section for details on how to change the HC composition and component properties.
Simulation and results
After specifying the necessary input parameters, the model can be simulated. The simulation results can be viewed in the Results/Maturities and Results/Expelled folders in the Project workspace. The results types include modelled transformation ratios, maturity windows, timing of HC generation, generated HC volumes and expelled HC volumes. More details on the generation and expulsion results analysis can be found in the source rock maturities and generation and expulsion chapters.
