Characterization of DOE reference oil shale: Tipton Member, Green River Formation oil shale from Wyoming

Measurements have been made of the chemical and physical properties of a Tipton Member Green River Formation oil shale from Wyoming. This shale has been designated as a western reference shale by the Department of Energy. Material balance Fischer assays, carbon aromaticities, thermal properties, and bulk mineralogic properties have been determined for the oil shale. Kerogen concentrates were also prepared. Most of the measured properties of the Tipton shale are comparable to results from previous studies of similar shales. The apparent carbon aromaticity of the Tipton Member raw shale was 0.33, and the hydrogen-to-carbon ratio of the kerogen concentrate was 1.35. Sixty - two percent of the raw shale organic carbon was converted to oil carbon during Fischer assay. By combining NMR and Fischer assay conversion data, it was estimated that as much as 21% of the raw shale aliphatic carbon aromatizes during Fischer assay. Chemical and physical properties have been determined for the shale oil. ASTM distillation data were used in conjunction with API correlations to calculate molecular weights and viscosities. There was poor agreement between measured and calculated molecular weights for the total shale oil produced from each shale. However, measured and calculated molecular weights agreed reasonably well for true boiling point distillate fractions in the temperature range of 450 - 762 °F (232 - 406 °C). Similarly, measured and calculated viscosities of the total shale oil were in disagreement, though good agreement was obtained on distillate fractions for a limited boiling range.