Shale oil value enhancement research - Quarterly report: September 1 - November 30, 1995

Activities during this quarter focused on compound type analysis of shale oil extraction products and improvement of the continuous extraction process. We have installed a walk-in fume hood to improve the ventilation of our working environment while handling of larger amounts of shale oil and volatile solvents in our Phase-II(a) work. The fume hood accommodates the distillation column, rotary evaporator, and the CLLX column. During the construction period, experimental work was carried on at a smaller scale. Modifications to the thermal hydrodealkylation process unit at the University of Utah have been completed. The higher boiling polar fraction of shale oil was fed and the preliminary run showed promising results. The search for potential industrial partners is continuing. During this period, the P.I. has visited six industrial companies that are candidates for partner/buyer relationship. Currently, we are pursuing confidentiality agreements with four of them. It is the intent to focus our research toward addressing the objectives of those companies who show sufficient interest in the shale oil value enhancement project to enter the next level of discussions. The assignment of Dr. Jesse Tsai and the availability of the student technicians to the SPX project has accelerated the pace of results.