THE U. S. BUREAU OF MINES, in cooperation with the State of Colorado, is conducting investigations at the University of Colorado to obtain fundamental data on the retorting of oil shale, particularly as regards, the effects of certain variable factors in retorting on the quantity and quality of the pro,ducts olbtained from o,il shales by destructive distillation.
Experiments are being conducted in a specially designed retort, in which the principal factors that affect retorting conditions can be controlled or varied at will on representative oil shales. The physical and chemical properties of the shales, and the products yielded by them, are determined in a specially equipped testing laboratory.
The following data were obtained on oil shale from DeBeque, Colorado.
The shale is o'f the massive variety, and yields oil of 0.905 specific gravity at the rate of 42.7 gallons. per ton. The weight per cubic foot of the shale is: Runrof-mine, 53.775 pounds'; +I inch, 54.775; -I inch, 56.015 ; -g inch, 58.200. Its specific gravity is I .92 to 2.06. The specific heat (method of mixtures, Studentia calorimeter) of the raw sha'le is 0.265 (mean 2o-90~ C.) and of the spent shale, 0.223. The heat of combustion (in oxygen in Emerson calorimeter) of the raw shale is approximately 2460 calories per gram, and of the spent shale, 600. The thermal conductivity-raw shale-between 25 to 75" C. is -0.00382. An aaalysis of the shale showed : Loss at I IO' C. (moisture), 0.6 per cent. ; loss on ignition, 40.0 per cent. ; ash or residue, 59.4 per cent. The ash analyzed 44.70 per cent. SiO,, and 25.60 per cent. Fe,0 and Al,On. 17.65 per cent. CaO, 5.28 per cent. MgO, 6.77 per cent. undetermined matter. The character of the work and the apparatus used are outlined in a paper entitled " Investigations of Fundamentals of Oilshale Retorting." Results of the foregoing tests, with compara-* Communicated by the Director.