Abstract: Flash pyrolysis of Chattanooga oil shale was conducted in an entrained-solids reactor using N/sub 2/ as the entrainer at atmospheric pressure and temperatures from 485 to 685/sup 0/C. The residence time in the reactor was 8 sec. The particle sizes of the shale used were -40 +50 and -50 +70 mesh. The raw oil shale assayed 10.8 gal/ton and the maximum oil yield from the flash pyrolysis experiments was 70% of the modified Fischer assay yield at a temperature of 485/sup 0/C. The maximum oil yield was at the lowest temperature run, which gave a carbon conversion of 40%. At the optimum conditions, 14% of the carbon in the raw shale was converted to gaseous products, while at the highest temperatures 55% was converted to gas. Higher retorting temperatures favor gas production rather than oil production. Hydrogen constituted over 90 mole% of the gas produced (on a nitrogen-free basis) at the condition of maximum oil yield, while carbon oxides were less than 2%. The oil produced contained approximately 4% sulfur, which was less than 3% of the sulfur in the raw oil shale. Further processing of the shale is required to recover the energy contained in the carbon residue onmore » the spent shale.« less
Publication Year: 1985
Publication Date: 1985-02-01
Language: en
Type: article
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