Rates of pyrolysis of colorado oil shale

Abstract

AbstractBoth intrinsic kinetics and rates of decomposition in larger particles were determined for a Colorado shale by weight‐loss measurements in TGA‐type equipment. The data for small granular particles indicated first‐order intrinsic kinetics up to a fractional weight change that depended on the temperature level. In the experiments with larger particles, gas, particle‐surface, and particle‐center temperatures measured in separate runs showed that both gas‐to‐particle and intra‐particle temperature differences were significant.A heat transfer model was evaluated by using the intrinsic kinetics data, measured heat transfer coefficients, and shale properties from the literature, to predict weight loss and particle‐center temperatures for the larger particles. Comparison with observed results showed good agreement in general, although there was some deviation in weight‐loss results at low temperatures.The combined set of intrinsic kinetics data and rates for larger particles should be useful for further studies of pyrolysis models.