Crude shale oils, properties

The crude shale oil used in this study was obtained from an in situ combustion retorting experiment at Rock Springs, Wyo. (I, 2), during the last week of the experiment and is considered a representative steady state oil. Properties of the in situ crude shale oil are shown in Table I. 

Charge stock for the catalyst testing experiment was prepared by topping a sample of the in situ crude shale oil to 600°F in a batch still equipped with a column having 35 trays and then separating the 600°— 1000°F fraction in a vacuum flash distillation unit. Properties of the 600°-1,000°F fraction of in situ crude shale oil are shown in Table III. 

Table III. Properties of 600°—1000°F Distillate from in Situ Crude Shale Oil...

In Table X the properties of the syncrude prepared from in situ crude shale oil are compared with the properties of a syncrude listed by the NPC. Relative amounts and properties of the naphthas, light oils, and heavy oils are also compared. These data show that the nitrogen content, sulfur content, pour point, viscosity, and API gravity of syncrude prepared from in situ crude shale oil are lower than those suggested in... 

Hydrogenation tests made on the 600°-1000°F heavy gas oil from in situ crude shale oil showed that a nickel-molybdenum-on-ahimina catalyst was superior to either cobalt-molybdenum-on-alumina or nickel-tungsten-on-alumina catalysts for removing nitrpgen from shale oil fractions. This nickel-molybdenum-on-alumina catalyst was used in the preparation of the synthetic crude oil. A high yield of premium refinery feedstock whose properties compared favorably with those of a syncrude described by the NPC was attained by hydrogenating the naphtha, light... 

Table V. Properties of Crude Shale Oils from Microwave Process and ex situ Processes...

TABLE 17.9 Properties of Typical Crude Shale Oil, and Composition of Gases from Surface Retorting of Oil Shale"... 

The shale oil derived jet fuel (designated Shale-I) used in this work was produced from a crude shale oil (supplied by Paraho, Inc.) by delayed coking, fractionation, and mild hydrotreatment at the Gary-Western refinery. The entire production operation has been fully described elsewhere ( 3). The physical properties of the jet fuel have been reported (1). 

Cobalt Molybdate Catalyst. Yields of products from hydrogasifying crude shale oil over cobalt molybdate catalyst at a space velocity of 1.0 volume of oil per volume of catalyst per hour are shown in Table IV, and properties of the liquid products are shown in Table V. The average reaction temperatures from 974° to 1183°F. were higher than those used with depleted uranium catalyst. Consequently, greater gas yields were obtained. However, similar trends were shown in the results obtained with both catalysts. 

Table 12. Properties of Shale Oil Syncrude and Arabian Light Crude ...

Lockard JM, Prater JW, Viau CJ, et al. 1982. Comparative study of the genotoxic properties of Eastern and Western U.S. shale oils, crude petroleum, and coal-derived oil. Mutat Res 102(3) 221-235. 

The total yield of diesel fuels was 51.6 volume-percent of the in situ crude. The properties of these fuels fell within the limits (Table V) of those of corresponding petroleum diesel fuels currently marketed in the United States (8) except for the carbon residue of the S-M shale-oil diesel fuel this residue was slightly higher than those of the petroleum diesel fuels but was probably acceptable. The value of 0.36 weight-percent for the carbon residue on the 10-percent bottoms of the S-M fuel was only a... 

Hydrotreated shale oil has an advantage as a refinery feed. In contrast to most petroleum crude oils, it contains essentially no residuum. Properties of the hydrotreated product from whole shale oil are similar to those of distillate fractions from waxy petroleum Arabian or Sumatran crudes. An exception is the sulfur content which is much lower for hydrotreated shale oil than for most crudes. 

The classic definition of asphaltenes is based on the solution properties of petroleum residuum in various solvents. This generalized concept has been extended to fractions derived from other carbonaceous sources, such as coal and oil shale. With this extension there has been much effort to define asphaltenes in terms of chemical structure and elemental analysis as well as by the carbonaceous source. This effort is summarized by Speight and Moschope-dis (i) in their chapter in this volume along with a good summary of the current thinking. Thus, there are petroleum asphaltenes, coal tar asphaltenes, shale oil asphaltenes, tar sands bitumen asphaltenes, and so on. In this chapter I will attempt to show how these materials are special cases of an overall concept based directly on the physical chemistry of solutions and that the idea that they have a specific chemical composition and molecular weight is incorrect even for different crude oil sources. 

Paraffin is manufactured by the distillation of crude petroleum or shale oil, followed by purification by acid treatment and filtration. Paraffins with different properties may be produced by controlling the distillation and subsequent congealing conditions. 

Properties of Paraho Shale Oil and West Texas Sour Crude... 

The shale oil produced is a viscous material that required hydrogenation to eliminate sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen, to reduce its viscosity, and to Improve its stability. The hydrogenation will be done at the production site to improve the properties of the shale oil before pipelining to a refinery. Hydrogenated shale oil is a reasonable substitute for crude oil, and still requires refining. 

Since the early 1900s, the government-owned petroleum and oil shale properties were envisioned as a way to provide a reserve supply of crude oil to fuel U.S. naval vessels in times of emergencies. The Reserves were mostly undeveloped until the 1970s, when the country began look-... 

Alternative fuels fall into two general categories. The first class consists of fuels that are made from sources other than crude oil but that have properties the same as or similar to conventional motor fuels. In this category are fuels made from coal and shale (see Fuels, SYNTHETIC). In the second category are fuels that are different from gasoline and diesel fuel and which require redesigned or modified engines. These include methanol (see Alcohol FUELS), compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). 

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