The pyrolysis kinetics of some Australian oil shales

✍ Scribed by A. Ekstrom; G. Callaghan

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 714 KB
• Volume: 66
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-2361
• DOI: 10.1016/0016-2361(87)90089-5

✦ Synopsis

The kinetics of hydrocarbon evolution from the pyrolysis of Rundle and Nagoorin shales can be described by two simultaneous first order rate laws whose relative contributions depend on the pyrolysis temperature. At low temperatures, a relatively rapid release of low molecular weight products occurs followed by a slower formation of higher molecular weight products. At high temperatures, secondary cracking reactions, resulting in the formation of low molecular weight aromatics, contribute to the total hydrocarbon release, and oil evaporation is kinetically important. The major constituents of the oil (alkanes, alkenes, aromatics) are formed at significantly different rates and according to different rate laws. The pyrolysis of Condor shale shows a marked particle size dependence, which cannot be described by any simple kinetic model, and is probably dominated by mass transfer effects.