• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.365-370
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• 2018

Oil shale is the sedimentary rock containing kerogen, which is one of the abundant unconventional fuel. In the pyrolysis process, oil, gas and coke are produced from the decomposition of oil shale. In this study, TGA and the continuous pyrolysis of oil shale have been investigated for the clean conversion of oil shale. Effects of reaction temperature and residence time on the pyrolysis conversion and oil production rate have been determined. Conversion of oil shale increases with increasing the reaction temperature and residence time. Optimum conditions for oil production were reaction temperature of $450{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ at the residence time of 30 min.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.62-67
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• 2008

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.

• The Korean Journal of Petroleum Geology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.21-35
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• 2008

Oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that includes organic matter called "kerogen". When the kerogen is heated at moderate temperature, petroleum-like liquids are produced through the kerogen. Although it has been reported that oil shale reserves are enormous in amount, totaling at least 2.9 trillion barrels of oil, a great deal of its reserves still remain untapped. This report presents the viability and recent state of oil shale development, which will further validate the feasibility of oil shale development as well as pertinent technology.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.403-430
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• 2014

Shale gas formations exhibit strong mechanical and strength anisotropies. Thus, it is necessary to study the effect of anisotropy on the hydraulic fracture initiation pressure. The calculation model for the in-situ stress of the bedding formation is improved according to the effective stress theory. An analytical model of the stresses around wellbore in shale gas reservoirs, in consideration of stratum dip direction, dip angle, and in-situ stress azimuth, has been built. Besides, this work established a calculation model for the stress around the perforation holes. In combination with the tensile failure criterion, a prediction model for the hydraulic fracture initiation pressure in the shale gas reservoirs is put forward. The error between the prediction result and the measured value for the shale gas reservoir in the southern Sichuan Province is only 3.5%. Specifically, effects of factors including elasticity modulus, Poisson's ratio, in-situ stress ratio, tensile strength, perforation angle (the angle between perforation direction and the maximum principal stress) of anisotropic formations on hydraulic fracture initiation pressure have been investigated. The perforation angle has the largest effect on the fracture initiation pressure, followed by the in-situ stress ratio, ratio of tensile strength to pore pressure, and the anisotropy ratio of elasticity moduli as the last. The effect of the anisotropy ratio of the Poisson's ratio on the fracture initiation pressure can be ignored. This study provides a reference for the hydraulic fracturing design in shale gas wells.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.359-373
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• 2013

Shale is considered as a source rock for conventional oil and gas exploration and development because shale is fine-grained detrital sedimentary rock which can preserve the organic matter better. Shale has a good sealing capacity for the petroleum trap due to its low permeability. Commercial recoveries of gas from shale in the North America based on the development of technologies of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing reveal that shale also function as a effective reservoir rock. Geochemical techniques to evaluate generation potential of the hydrocarbons from organic matter in the source rocks can be applied for the exploration of the shale gas resources. To evaluate shale gas resources, it is important to understand various geochemical processes and shale characteristics controlling generation, storage and estimation of shale gas reserves. In this paper, the generation mechanism of the oil and gas from organic matter is reviewed, and geochemical techniques which can be applied for the evaluation and characterization of shale gas are introduced.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.83-93
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• 2015

This study investigated genetic, mineralogical and spectral characteristics of oil shale and coal samples in Dundgobi area, Mongolia. Based the Rock/Eval and Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis, kerogen type, hydrogen quantity, thermal maturity and depositional environment were confirmed. Moreover, the mineral composition of oil shale and coal samples were analyzed by XRD and spectroscopy. The result of Rock Eval/TOC analysis revealed that the samples of Eedemt deposit are immature to mature source rocks with sufficient hydrocarbon potential, and the kerogen types were classified as Type I, Type II and Type III kerogen. On the other hand, the samples from Shine Us Khudag deposit were mature with good to very good hydrocarbon potential rocks where kengen types are defined as Type I, Type II/III and Type III kerogen. According to the carbon and sulfur contents, the depositional environment of the both sites were defined as a freshwater depositional environment. The XRD analysis revealed that the mineral composition of oil shale and coal samples were quartz, calcite, dolomite, illite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, anorthoclase, albite, microcline, orthoclase and analcime. The absorption features of oil shale samples were at 1412 nm and 1907 nm by clay minerals and water, 2206 nm by clay minerals of kaolinite and montmorillonite and 2306 nm by dolomite. It is considered that spectral characteristics on organic matter content test must be tested for oil shale exploration using remote sensing techniques.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.163-174
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• 1998

To study the origin of organic matter in meteorite, terrestrial rocks which contain or-ganic compounds similar to the ones found in carbonaceous chondrites are studied and compared with Muchison meteorite. Hydrocarbon molecules were extracted by benzene and methanol from bituminous coal and oil shale and the extracts were partitioned into aliphatic, aromatic, and polar fractions by silica gel column chromatography. Carbon isotopic ratios in each fractions were analysed by GC-C-IRMS. Molec-ular compound identifications were carried by GC-MS Engine. Bituminous coal and oil shale show the organic compound composition similar to that of meteorite. Oil shale has a wide range of ${\delta}^{13}C,-20.1%_0~-54.4%_0$ compared to bituminous coal, $-25.2%_0~34.3%_0$. Delta values of several molecular compounds in two terrestrial samples are different. They show several distinct distributions in isotopic ratios compared to those of meteorite; Murchison meteorite has a range of ${\delta}^13C\;from\;-13%_0\;to\;+30%_0$. These results provide interpretation for the source and the formation condition of each rock, in particular alteration and migration processes of organic matter. Especially, they show an important clue whether some hydrocarbon molecules observed in meteorite are indigenous or not.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.487-492
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• 1995

The chemical compositions and pyrolysis characteristics of oil shales and source rocks distributed in the southwestern and southeastern parts of the Korean peninsular have been investigated. In order to compare the results of Korean samples with those of shales giving high oil yields, two Colorado oil shale samples and one Paris source rock samples were also investigated. Chemical compositions of the samples were analysed by means of gravimetry, CHN analysis, X-ray diffraction method, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry. A custom made pyrolyser and a Rock-Eval system were used for the pyrolysis studies. Pyrolyses of the samples were carried out by means of a temperature controlling device to $600^{\circ}C$ at a heating rate of $5^{\circ}C/min$ with a helium flow rate of $1200m{\ell}/min$. The results of pyrolysis study indicated that Colorado shale samples belong to type I and all the other samples belong to type II.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.56-60
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• 2013

Non-conventional oil resources such as shale gas are becoming increasingly important and have drawn the attention of several major oil companies all over the world. Nevertheless, the market-changing growth of shale gas production in recent years has resulted in the emergence of environmental and water management challenges. This is because the water used in the hydraulic fracturing process contains large amount of pollutants including ions, organics, and particles. Accordingly, the treatment of this flowback water from shale gas plant is regarded as one of the key technologies. In this study, we examined the feasibility of membrane distillation as a treatment technology for the water from shale gas plants. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) is a thermally-driven process based on a vaper pressure gradient across a hydrophobic membrane, allowing the treatment of feed waters containing high concentration of ions. Experiments were carried out put in the lab-scale under various conditions such as membrane types, temperature difference, flow rate and so on. Synthetic feed water was prepared and used based on the data from literature. The results indicated that DCMD is suitable for treating not only low-range flowback water but also high-range flowback water. Based on the theoretical calculation, DCMD could have over 80% of recovery. Nevertheless, organic pollutants such as oil and surfactant were identified as serious barriers for the application of MD. Further works will be required to develop the optimum pretreatment for this MD process.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.361-369
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• 2015

Interest of unconventional Oil and Gas, which is produced in a different way, has been increasing due to exhaustion of traditional oil and gas. However production of unconventional Oil and Gas is closely related to its technology level. Accordingly in this research, we can analyze technology level of unconventional Oil and Gas with country/sector/year patent analysis. Through the result of this research, U.S is highest patent application national, patent application in oil sand is increasing. In addition, oil sands-realated patents and shale oil-realated patents applying actively in early 1970's and since the mid-1980's showed a decreasing trend. And patent application in unconventional oil and gas has been increasing due to the rise in the oil price 2000's.