A SLOPE METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING CRUDE SHALE OILS

A correlation was found between the slope of a line from the plot of the log of the cumulative weight percent of n-paraffins versus the n-paraffin's carbon number adjusted for the lack of C₄ and lighter n-paraffins. It was found that as the slope of the line decreased, the quality of the shale oil, represented by the initial boiling point, increased. This increase or decrease in oil quality is due to an increase or decrease in the amount of low boiling to mid-distillate fractions in the shale oil.

In addition, the effects of carbon dioxide and nitrogen retorting on shale oil quality were investigated. It was found that carbon dioxide retorting, in addition to increasing shale oil yield, also increased shale oil quality. It is thought to increase the quality of the oil by increasing the amounts of components in the low boiling to mid-distillate fractions.