Recovery of Turkish Oil Shales by Electromagnetic Heating and Determination of the Dielectric Properties of Oil Shales by an Analytical Method

The effect of microwave irradiation on the recovery of three different oil shale samples was studied. To enhance the microwave efficiency, three different iron powders (Fe, Fe2O3, and FeCl3) and their three different doses (0.1, 0.5, and 1% by weight, each) were added to the samples as microwave receptors. The doses of each receptor were optimized for each oil shale sample based on the highest oil or gas production value obtained experimentally. During the experimental studies, the temperature distribution and the emissions of CO, H2S, CH4, and O-2 gases were recorded. Temperature distributions obtained experimentally,were modeled analytically to find the microwave power absorption coefficient of each Oil shale sample. Experimental and analytical studies show that, oil recovery From oil Shales is not Only related to reaching the pyrolysis temperature, but also to the amount of time that temperature is maintained. Therefore, for the efficient recovery of oil shales, the best solution is found in a hybrid utilization of irradiation and conventional heat transfer: microwave heating for a rapid temperature rise and conventional heating for sustaining high temperatures effectively.