Evaluation of rundle spent shale as an adsorbent for the treatment of retort water

Conference · Sun Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · Oil Shale Symp. Proc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6074952

Bell, P R.F.; Corney, M; Greenfield, P F; Moore, A J

Adsorption and desorption tests were performed on a number of raw and spent shale samples to determine the ability of these solids to adsorb the organic components from retort waters. All solid samples were extracted from the Rundle deposit, Queensland, the most advanced of Australia's oil shale developments. Spent shales produced in the laboratory and in trial runs of two pilot retorts were utilised. The retort waters were generated by Fischer Assay techniques and from a pilot retort trial. Preliminary results show that a significant amount of organic carbon is adsorbed onto Rundle shales. The adsorptive capacity was found to be significantly greater than that reported for Colorado shales, this being attributed to the larger internal surface area of the Rundle shales. The major non-adsorbable components in the retort water have been identified (by GC/MS) as being normal carboxylic acids. Also, it has been demonstrated that the adsorbed organic material is not easily desorbed and that the spent shale has a high capacity for retaining water. The results of this work indicate that: co-disposal of retort water with spent shale is a feasible proposition there is potential for using spent shale as an organic adsorbent in a water treatment scheme.

• Research Organization: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland
• OSTI ID: 6074952
• Report Number(s): CONF-8404121-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Oil Shale Symp. Proc.; (United States)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040900* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Waste management
ADSORBENTS
ADSORPTION
AUSTRALASIA
AUSTRALIA
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
DESORPTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
OIL SHALES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
RETORTING
SORPTION
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
SPENT SHALES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TESTING
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER TREATMENT