Oil Shales

This book provides thorough knowledge and detailed information of oil shales using a range of conventional and unconventional techniques and methodologies combined to elucidate the composition of oil shale deposits. As these rocks are mined for energy production their composition and mineral constituents are of special interests to individuals and communities that are likely to be effected by these resources when mined and processed. The book highlights the environmental and health hazards of the spent shales after processing. These are significantly greater in volume than the rocks originally mined before processing. Toxic metals tend to double and triple their concentrations in the spent shales and will be leached into water sources and soils.Since oil shales as an energy resource are totally uneconomical; all oil shales, their mining and processing are heavily subsidised by governments and institutions using taxpayers money.

Shale Oil and Gas Handbook: Theory, Technologies, and Challenges provides users with information on how shale oil and gas exploration has revolutionized today’s energy industry. As activity has boomed and job growth continues to increase, training in this area for new and experienced engineers is essential. This book provides comprehensive information on both the engineering design and research aspects of this emerging industry. Covering the full spectrum of basic definitions, characteristics, drilling techniques, and processing and extraction technologies, the book is a great starting point to educate oil and gas personnel on today’s shale industry. Critical topics covered include characterization of shale gas, theory and methods, typical costs, and obstacles for exploration and drilling, R&D and technology development in shale production, EOR methods in shale oil reservoirs, and the current status and impending challenges for shale oil and gas, including the inevitable future prospects relating to worldwide development. Reveals all the basic information needed to quickly understand today’s shale oil and gas industry, including advantages and disadvantages, equipment and costs, flow diagrams, and processing stages Evenly distributes coverage between oil and gas into two parts, as well as upstream and downstream content Provides a practical handbook with real-world case studies and problem examples, including formulas and calculations

Oil shales are broadly dermed as petroleum source rocks containing sufficiently high contents of organic matter (above ca 10-15 wt. %) to make utilisation a possibility. Like coal, the world's reserves of oil shales are vast being many times larger than those proven for crude oil. Indeed, some of the largest deposits occur in the USA and Europe where Estonia and Turkey have large reserves. The first recorded interest in oil shale retorting was an English patent in 1694 (Eele, Hancock and Porter, No. 330) which refers to distilling noyle from some kind of stone". The oil shale retorting industry dates back to the middle of the last century, notably Scotland, Estonia, France and Sweden in Europe. Indeed, my own Department at the University of Strathclyde has a historical link with James "Paraffin" Young, the founder of the Scottish oil shale industry who endowed a chair in Applied Chemistry. The growth of the oil industry saw the demise of the oil shale industry in most countries with the notable exception of Estonia, where kukersite has continued to be used for power generation and retorting. However, oil shale utilisation has attracted renewed attention since the early 1970s as a source of transport fuels and chemical feedstocks due to the the long term uncertainties over crude oil supplies.