Investigation and development of alternative methods for shale oil processing and analysis

I. Effects of selected wastes on Oil Shale Retorting. A. Background and Rationale. Oil shale-, a carbonaceous rock which occurs abundantly in the earth's crust, has been investigated for many years as an alternate source of fuel oil. The insoluble organic matter contained in such shales is termed "Kerogen" from the Greek meaning oil or oil forming. The kerogen in oil shale breaks down into oil-like products when subjected to conditions simulating destructive distillation. These products have been the subject of extensive investigations by several researchers and many of the constituents of shale oil have been identified. (1) Forsman (2) estimates that the kerogen content of the earth is roughly 3 x 10 tons as compared to total coal reserves of about 5 x 10 . Although the current cost per barrel estimate for commercial production of shale oil is higher than that of fossil oil, as our oil reserves continue to dwindle, shale oil technology will become more and more important.