Extraction of El-Lajjun oil shale
- Univ. of Bahrain, Isa Town (Bahrain)
- Gazi Univ., Ankara (Turkey)
Extraction of the bitumen fraction of El-Lajjun oil shale was carried out using 17 different solvents, pure and combined. Out of all the solvents used, toluene and chlorform were found to be the most efficient for extraction of the bitumen to perform the major part of the experiments. This selectivity was based on the quality and quantity of the yield and on the quantity of solvent recovered. Extraction was carried out using a Soxhlet extractor. For complete recovery of solvent the extract phase was subjected to two stages of distillation, simple distillation followed by fractional distillation, where different cuts of oil were obtained. It was found that an optimum shale size of 1.0 mm offered better solvent recovery. One hour was the optimum time needed for complete extraction. The yield of oil was determined from the material balance gained from fractional distillation after testing for the existence of any traces of solvent trapped in the different cuts by using a gas chromotography technique. When chloroform was used, it was found that the average amount of bitumen extracted was 0.037 g/g of shale, which corresponds to 98% of the actual bitumen trapped in the oil shale (by assuming the bitumen represents 15% of the organic matter) and 84.1% of solvent recovered. When toluene was used, it was found that the average amount of oil extracted was 0.0293 g/g/ of shale, which corresponds to 78% of the actual bitumen trapped in the oil shale (by assuming bitumen represents 15% of the organic matter) and 89.9% of solvent for extraction with toluene.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 273512
- Journal Information:
- Separation Science and Technology, Vol. 30, Issue 17; Other Information: PBD: Oct 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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