Thermal cracking combined with supercritical fluid extraction of Jordanian oil shale

In this work, supercritical extraction of Jordanian oil shale was investigated experimentally using a batch autoclave device. Operating conditions such as solvent type, mixing time, temperature, pressure, and particle size effects on oil recovery from oil shale have been studied. The results indicated that oil yield increases with the increase of pressure and temperature. The maximum extract yields of 15 and 16 wt% were obtained at 42 bars and 318°C with toluene for El-Lajjun and Sultani shales, respectively. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has shown to be an efficient technique since the extracted yield was 55% more than the yield obtained using the classical Fischer Assay retorting process.