MICROWAVE-ASSISTED SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF SHALE OIL FROM JORDANIAN OIL SHALE

Oil shale as an alternative to oil is considered a major possible source of energy in Jordan which has an estimated 50 billion tons of geological proven reserves that are widely distributed all over the country. Many methods have been used for extracting shale oil from oil shale. This investigation suggests the application of a novel technique, namely microwave-assisted extraction. Several solvents were tested for extractive capacity at different temperatures (50 to 140 degrees C) by the microwave irradiation of the investigated oil shale. The extraction results showed that all the solvents except hexane followed a sigmoid behaviour. Methanol exhibited the highest extractive capacity of about 23% of shale oil. Several particle sizes in the range of 94-910 mu m were examined and the results indicated that shale oil extraction is not diffusion controlled. The dynamic effect of extraction was also considered and found to have a very little effect after 10 minutes of irradiation.