Composition, Geochemistry and Conversion of Oil Shales: 455 (Nato Science Series C:, 455) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792333438 ISBN 13: 9780792333432

Publisher: Springer, 1995

Synopsis

Oil shales are broadly dermed as petroleum source rocks containing sufficiently high contents of organic matter (above ca 10-15 wt. %) to make utilisation a possibility. Like coal, the world's reserves of oil shales are vast being many times larger than those proven for crude oil. Indeed, some of the largest deposits occur in the USA and Europe where Estonia and Turkey have large reserves. The first recorded interest in oil shale retorting was an English patent in 1694 (Eele, Hancock and Porter, No. 330) which refers to distilling noyle from some kind of stone". The oil shale retorting industry dates back to the middle of the last century, notably Scotland, Estonia, France and Sweden in Europe. Indeed, my own Department at the University of Strathclyde has a historical link with James "Paraffin" Young, the founder of the Scottish oil shale industry who endowed a chair in Applied Chemistry. The growth of the oil industry saw the demise of the oil shale industry in most countries with the notable exception of Estonia, where kukersite has continued to be used for power generation and retorting. However, oil shale utilisation has attracted renewed attention since the early 1970s as a source of transport fuels and chemical feedstocks due to the the long term uncertainties over crude oil supplies.

About this title

Synopsis

The last 15 years has seen the development of a number of innovative process concepts, such as fluid-bed pyrolysis and hydroretorting which have enabled considerably higher oil yields to be obtained than by simple retorting. To understand these phenomena, detailed structural information is clearly required on the organic matter present in shales. Indeed, the organic geochemistry and analytical chemistry communities have made considerable strides in the application of advanced analytical methods to assess the structure and biological origins of kerogens. Therefore, it has been timely to bring together leading scientists from the analytical/geochemistry and chemical engineering communities involved in fossil fuel research through a NATO-ASI to prepare an up-to-date coverage of oil shale composition, geochemistry and conversion. The book comprises over 20 review articles, together with a number of research contributions. It is intended for both research workers entering the field and academics/industrialists to keep abreast of developments in solid fuel research.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792333438
• ISBN 13: 9780792333432
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 515
• Editor: Snape C.E.