General kinetic model of oil shale pyrolysis

A mathematical model for pyrolysis of Green River oil shale is developed from previous experiments on oil, water, and gas evolution and oil cracking over a wide range of pyrolysis conditions. Reactions included are evolution of 5 gas species, oil, and water from kerogen, clay dehydration, oil coking and cracking, and evolution of H2 and CH4 from char. Oil is treated in eleven boiling point fractions in order to treat the competition between oil coking and evaporation, and to evaluate the effect of oil cracking on the boiling point distribution of the oil. The kinetics and product yields calculated by the model are compared to experimental results for pyrolysis conditions ranging from isothermal fluid-bed to high-pressure slow-heating-rate retorting.