A simple estimation of shale oil content by thermogravimetry

Abstract

A thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and a Rock-Eval pyrolysis (RE) were applied to estimating the shale oil content (oil yield) in 26 oil shales from the Dsunbayan Group, Mongolia.
The weight loss during 211-505°C (WL₂-WL₁) by TGA and the generation potential (S₁+S₂) of RE are well correlated with the Fischer assay (FA) oil yield, with the following formulae, respectively.
WL₂-WL₁ (wt%)=0.720×{FA oil yield (wt%)}+2.55
S₁+S₂ (mg/g)=12.4×{FA oil yield (wt%)}-1.49
The oil yields estimated from TGA weight loss and RE generation potential both have small deviations (mostly within 1wt%) from the FA values. These estimations can be effectively applied as easy and inexpensive methods to estimate oil yields of large number of oil shale samples.