In-situ thermal upgrading is used to tune the pore system in low-maturity oil shales. We introduce fractal dimension (D), form factor (ff) and stochastic entropy (H) to quantify the heating-induced evolution of pore morphological complexity and azimuthal disorder and develop a model to estimate the impact on seepage capacity via permeability. Experiments are conducted under recreated in-situ temperatures and consider anisotropic properties—both parallel and perpendicular to bedding. Results indicate that azimuthal distribution of pores in the bedding-parallel direction are dispersed, while those in the bedding-perpendicular direction are concentrated. D values indicate that higher temperatures reduce the uniformity of the pore size distribution (PSD) in the bedding-parallel direction but narrow the PSD in the bedding-perpendicular direction. The greater ff (> 0.7) values in the bedding-parallel direction account for a large proportion, while the dominated in the bedding-perpendicular direction locates within 0.2–0.7, for all temperatures. The H value of the bedding-parallel sample remains stable at ~0.925 during heating, but gradually increases from 0.808 at 25 ℃ to 0.879 at 500 ℃ for the bedding-perpendicular sample. Congruent with a mechanistic model, the permeability at 500 ℃ is elevated ~1.83 times (bedding-parallel) and ~6.08 times (bedding-perpendicular) relative to that at 25 ℃—confirming the effectiveness of thermal treatment in potentially enhancing production from low-maturity oil shales.

In-situ upgrading by heating is feasible for low-maturity shale oil, where the pore space dynamically evolves. We characterize this response for a heated substrate concurrently imaged by SEM. We systematically follow the evolution of pore quantity, size (length, width and cross-sectional area), orientation, shape (aspect ratio, roundness and solidity) and their anisotropy—interpreted by machine learning. Results indicate that heating generates new pores in both organic matter and inorganic minerals. However, the newly formed pores are smaller than the original pores and thus reduce average lengths and widths of the bedding-parallel pore system. Conversely, the average pore lengths and widths are increased in the bedding-perpendicular direction. Besides, heating increases the cross-sectional area of pores in low-maturity oil shales, where this growth tendency fluctuates at < 300 ℃ but becomes steady at > 300 ℃. In addition, the orientation and shape of the newly-formed heating-induced pores follow the habit of the original pores and follow the initial probability distributions of pore orientation and shape. Herein, limited anisotropy is detected in pore direction and shape, indicating similar modes of evolution both bedding-parallel and bedding-normal. We propose a straightforward but robust model to describe evolution of pore system in low-maturity oil shales during heating.