Page 191 - Synthetic Fuels Handbook

FUELS FROM OIL SHALE 177

6.3.4 China
Fushun, a city in the northeastern province of Liaoning, is where oil shale from the Eocene
Jijuntun Formation is mined.
The average thickness of the Jijuntun Formation is estimated to be 115 m (within a
range of 48–190 m). The oil shale in the formation can be divided into two parts of differing
composition: the lower 15 m of light-brown oil shale of low-grade and the upper 100 m of
brown to dark-brown, finely laminated oil shale. The oil content of the low-grade oil shale
is less than 4.7 percent by weight and the richer upper grade is greater than 4.7 percent.
However, depending on the exact location of the deposit, the maximum oil content can be as
high as 16 percent. It has been reported that the average oil content is 7 to 8 percent which
would produce in the region of 78 to 89 L of oil per metric ton of oil shale (assuming a 0.9
specific gravity).
In 1961, China was producing one-third of its total oil from shale oil. In 1983, the Chinese
reported that the oil shale resources in the area of the West Open-Pit mine were 260 million
metric tons, of which 235 million metric tons were considered mineable. It has also been
reported that the entire Fushun area has a resource of approximately 3.6 billion metric tons.
The commercial extraction of oil shale and the operation of heating retorts for process-
ing the oil shale were developed in Fushun between 1920 and 1930. After World War II,
Refinery No. 1 had 200 retorts, each with a daily throughput of 100 to 200 t of oil shale. It
continued to operate and was joined by the Refinery No. 2 starting up in 1954. In Refinery
No. 3 shale oil was hydrotreated for producing light liquid fuels. Shale oil was also open-
pit mined in Maoming, Guangdong Province and 64 retorts were put into operation there
in the 1960s.
At the beginning of the 1960s, 266 retorts were operating in Fushun Refinery Nos. 1 and 2.
However, by the early 1990s the availability of much cheaper crude oil had led to the Maoming
operation and Fushun Refinery Nos. 1 and 2 being shut down.
A new facility—the Fushun Oil Shale Retorting Plant—came into operation in 1992
under the management of the Fushun Bureau of Mines. Its 60 retorts annually produce
60,000 t of shale oil to be sold as fuel oil, with carbon black as a by-product.

6.3.5 Estonia

Oil shale was first scientifically researched in the eighteenth century. In 1838, work was under-
taken to establish an opencast pit near the town of Rakvere and an attempt was made to obtain
oil by distillation. Although it was concluded that the rock could be used as solid fuel and, after
processing, as liquid or gaseous fuel, the kukersite (derived from the name of the locality) was
not exploited until the fuel shortages created by World War I began to impact.
The Baltic Oil Shale Basin is situated near the northwestern boundary of the East
European Platform. The Estonia and Tapa deposits are both situated in the west of the
Basin, the former being the largest and highest-quality deposit within the Basin.
Since 1916, oil shale has had an enormous influence on the energy economy, particularly
during the period of Soviet rule and then under the reestablished Estonian Republic. At a
very early stage, an oil shale development program declared that kukersite could be used
directly as a fuel in the domestic, industrial, or transport sectors. Moreover, it is easily mined
and could be even more effective as a combustible fuel in power plants or for oil distillation.
Additionally kukersite ash could be used in the cement and brick-making industries.
Permanent mining began in 1918 and has continued until the present day, with capacity
(both underground and opencast mining) increasing as demand rose. By 1955, oil shale
output had reached 7 million metric tons and was mainly used as a power station/chemical
plant fuel and in the production of cement. The opening of the 1400 MW Baltic Thermal