Shale oil value enhancement research - Quarterly report: October 1- December 31, 1996

Concurrent activities are ongoing in all key area, namely, (a) construction and startup of a flow THDA reactor system, (b) development of KPX product slate, and (c) conducting industrial liaison for assembly of the KPX consortium. Excellent progress is being made in all cases. Our market analysis and industrial feedback have caused us to focus on pyridine itself. We are concentrating our effort toward increasing the yield of pyridine at present. To produce sufficient quantity of sample for marketing purpose, we needed an in-house flow THDA unit. This unit is in its startup phase. The completion of the flow THDA unit will allow us to produce pyridine effectively. The liaison with potential industrial partners is continuing. At the present time, we have a confidentiality agreement with many of the major target companies. Follow-up work has been initiated and excellent progress has been made. To expedite the process, we reached an agreement with Mr. David Purpi as a consultant to assist on the industrial liaison. Mr Purpi has served many years as a marketing executive for a major pyridine manufacturer and has extensive experience in pyridine production and marketing. His appointment to work on this project has been approved by the DOE.