Characteristics of Oil Shale as Unconventional Oil Resources

비재내형(非在來型) 원유(原油) 자원(資源)으로서의 오일셰일 특성(特性) 고찰(考察)

  • Na, Jeong-Geol (Climate Change Technology Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research) ;
  • Chung, Soo-Hyun (Climate Change Technology Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research)
  • 나정걸 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화기술연구본부) ;
  • 정수현 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화기술연구본부)
  • Published : 2008.12.27

Abstract

Oil shale is a sedimentary rock that contains organic compounds called kerogen that are released as petroleum-like liquids by retorting. In order to evalute oil shale as alternative oil resources, the physical properties of oil shale samples from US and Russia were investigated and Fischer assays were carried out. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that thermal degradation of oil shale consisted of two stage processes, with hydrocarbon release from kerogen followed by $CO_2$ release by carbonate decomposition. Organic compounds in oil shale have an high hydrogen/carbon ratio, and therefore liquid hydrocarbons could be obtained easily. Shale oil yields from Russian and US oil shales by Fischer assay were 12.7% and 18.5%, respectively. The density and boiling point of shale oils are higher than that of Middle East crude oil, indicating that further upgrading processes are necessary for refinery. On the other hands, sulfur contents are relatively low, and the amounts of Vanadium and Nickel are extremely small in shale oil. It was found that paraffins were rich in US shale oil while main components of Russian shale oil were oxygenated hydrocarbons.

오일셰일은 유기물질인 케로젠을 함유한 암석으로 레토르팅을 통하여 암석 내부의 케로젠을 오일로 회수할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 미국과 러시아산 오일셰일 시료에 대한 물성을 분석하고 레토르팅 실험을 수행함으로써 대체 원유로서의 활용가능성을 평가하였다. 열중량 분석 결과, 오일셰일은 케로젠 분해로 인한 유기물 배출과 $CaCO_3$ 분해로 인한 $CO_2$ 배출의 두 단계 열분해 과정을 거치는 것으로 조사되었다. 오일셰일 내 유기물은 수소/탄소비가 높아 레토르팅을 통하여 액체연료로 쉽게 회수할 수 있으며 Fischer assay 레토르팅에 의한 오일 회수율은 미국산이 12.7%, 러시아산이 18.5% 정도였다. 미국 및 러시아산 오일셰일로부터 회수한 셰일오일은 비중 및 비점이 재래형 원유보다 높아 정유시설 투입을 위해서 추가 업그레이딩 공정이 필요하지만 유황분 함량이 낮을뿐 아니라 바나듐과 니켈 등의 촉매독 성분이 미량이어서 후속 정제공정에 드는 비용은 적을 것으로 예상된다. 회수된 오일에 대하여 GC/MS 분석을 수행한 결과 미국산 세일오일은 파라핀 성분이 다량 존재하였고, 러시아산 세일오일은 주로 산소가 포함된 유기화합물이 많이 함유되어 있음을 알 수 있었다.

Keywords

References

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