Effects of storage on the chemical composition of shale oil from Rundle, Australia

✍ Scribed by Dale E. Lambert; John D. Saxby

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 444 KB
• Volume: 66
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-2361
• DOI: 10.1016/0016-2361(87)90102-5

✦ Synopsis

A fresh sample of Rundle shale oil, recovered during retorting, was subjected to a variety of storage conditions for 26 weeks. Changes in chemical composition were investigated by chromatographic and n.m.r. techniques. Subsamples of the fresh shale oil were stored at (a) -4°C under nitrogen, (b) 22°C in air, in the dark, (c) 22°C in air, exposed to artificial light, and (d) 1&35"C in air, exposed to sunlight. The most significant changes were observed in the 'sunlight' sample. Exposure to sunlight caused a marked decrease in the aliphatic and mono-aromatic fractions in the aged shale oil with a corresponding increase in polar constituents. The ratio of straight-chain 1-alkenes to alkanes was significantly lower in this sample, while the ratio of 1-alkenes to internal alkenes was greatly increased. The reactivity of cis and trans-2-alkenes appeared to be similar during ageing experiments.