Date of Graduation
1990
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
An entrained reactor system (LFER) has been used to study the rapid pyrolysis kinetics for both eastern (New Albany) and western (Colorado) oil shales. Under the condition of high heating rate, a fundamental understanding of the processes influencing oil production and product quality/composition was obtained. Flow visualization and temperature characterization in the LFER were conducted to provide a critical laminar flow and isothermal reaction zone. Calibration curves depicting the flow regimes confirmed that the existing inlet and reactor design can be operated without particle dispersion caused by turbulence. A thermocouple tree was successfully utilized to identify the conditions necessary to match wall and gas temperatures. The rapid pyrolysis of these oil shales was carried out in nitrogen at four different temperatures, 700{dollar}\\sp\\circ{dollar}, 750{dollar}\\sp\\circ{dollar}, 800{dollar}\\sp\\circ{dollar}, and 850{dollar}\\sp\\circ{dollar}C. For each temperature, the sampling probe was set at five or six different positions along the length of the reactor tube to obtain different particle residence times. The weight loss (or cumulative yield) was determined by using the ash tracer technique and the organic conversion rate was modified from dry ash free basis to dry mineral matter free basis. A single particle characteristic model was developed to evaluate the particle velocity/temperature-time profile and a pyrolysis kinetic model based on the first-order Arrhenius Law was developed to calculate the kinetic parameters. The global kinetic parameters for both oil shales were determined and some main factors affecting on the process were determined.
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Guo-Qing, "Rapid pyrolysis of eastern and western oil shales in an entrained reactor." (1990). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 10101.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10101