Mathematical study of an oil shale retort

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1975

OSTI ID:5113367

Fausett, D W

This thesis reports the results of a mathematical investigation of the underlying principles that govern the experimental performance of an oil shale retort. Such an investigation naturally separates into 2 principal areas:a study of the kinetics of oil shale pyrolysis and a study of the retorting combustion process. A system of thermal decompositions is presented that provides a description of the mechanism of oil-shale pyrolysis. Specific rate constants for systems of thermal decompositions studied are estimated by a least squares procedure. The estimates thus obtained provide a mathematical model of the corresponding thermal decomposition system. A model that generates a good fit to experimental data, in comparison with other models studied, is based on a thermal decomposition system consisting of 2 first-order reactions and 3 second-order reactions. Values computed for the specific rate constants corresponding to that system are shown to exhibit a temperature dependence that is in good agreement with the Arrhenius equation, over the temperature range of the data used in the study.

• OSTI ID: 5113367
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040401* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GAS COMBUSTION PROCESS
KINETICS
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICS
OIL SHALES
PYROLYSIS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES