Shale oil value enhancement research - Quarterly report: June 1 - August 31, 1996

The quarter's efforts were concentrated on (a) THDA and reaction of alkylpyridines at elevated conditions, (b) compound type analysis of kerogen oil and its derived products, (b) thermal hydrodealkylation of the >290 °C polar fraction, (c) secondary reactions of pyridinic type compounds to form marketable products, and (d) preparation of presentation to the Dawnbreaker Commercial Assistance Program. Excellent progress is being made in all cases. The liaison with potential industrial partners is continuing. During October, we will participate in Commercial Opportunity Forum of the Dawnbreaker Commercialization Assistance Program. We qualified for their program because the initial thrust for value-added products research originated in the SBIR program. The reviewers believe that both our technologies and products are marketable and deserved further attention. Our market analysis and industrial feedback indicate that the low molecular weight pyridines are the main market driving force. We are concentrating our effort toward increasing the yield of "light" pyridines before the end of Phase n(a). Our current laboratory set-up can only produce analytical quantity of samples, which is not sufficient for marketing purpose. However, the completion of a secondary flow THDA unit for a pilot-scale production depends on the availability of the Phase-II(b) and Phase-IE funding.