Oil shale

Classification：Sedimentary Rock

A rock heated to produce oil (shale oil) without oxygen. The combustible substance belongs to the kerogen. It belongs to the shale type. Oil shale is rich in reserves, but because of its low calorific value and large amount of impurities, it is rarely used as fossil fuel.

Oil shale is a highly ash sedimentary rock containing flammable organic matter. The main difference between coal and coal is that ash content is more than 40%. The main difference between carbonaceous shale and oil shale is that oil content is more than 3.5%. Oil shale belongs to the unconventional oil and gas resources. It is listed as a very important alternative energy in twenty-first Century with the feasibility of resource abundance and development and utilization. It is also a renewable fossil fuel, like petroleum, natural gas and coal.

Form：
Oil shale, also known as oil shale, is a kind of saproteric substance formed by lower plants and minerals in the deep water reduction conditions of inland lake and sea or coastal lake, and it is a high ash saproteric coal. All the rotten ash is divided into 50% or 70% parts, called Oil shale, which contains shale oil similar to natural oil. Oil shale original organic matter is mainly derived from algae such as algae. Among them, cyanobacteria, green algae and yellow algae are most important.
Characteristic：
The appearance of Oil shale is mostly brown mudstone, and its relative density is 1.4 to 2.7. Minerals in Oil shale are often mixed with organic matter evenly and closely, so it is difficult to concentrate on mineral processing. The Oil shale contains a large number of clay minerals, often form clear schistosity.
The development and utilization of Oil shale can be traced back to seventeenth Century. By nineteenth Century, Oil shale had an annual production scale of millions of tons, and some products such as kerosene, lamp oil, paraffin, fuel oil, lubricating oil, oil, naphtha, light gas and chemical fertilizer, sulphuric acid and so on could be produced from Oil shale. In the early twentieth Century, due to the emergence of cars and trucks, Oil shale was widely exploited as a transportation fuel. It was not until 1966 that the Oil shale was used as the main mineral energy to withdraw from the stage of history due to the massive exploitation and utilization of crude oil. However, now the use of Oil shale is more extensive, and the use of Oil shale in Estonia, Brazil, China, Israel, Australia and Germany has expanded to power generation, heating, shale oil refining, cement production, chemical production, synthetic building materials and soil fertility agent.

Distribution:
Oil shale is rich in resources and is of great significance. The world's Oil shale resources are mainly distributed in the United States, Russia, China, Estonia and other countries. According to EIA statistics, shale oil of 33 countries in the world can reach 4100 billion tons.
Most of the unconventional oil and gas resources found in the world are located in the western hemisphere with relatively stable geopolitical stability, that is, the United States, Canada and Latin America. The United States is the world's most abundant Oil shale resource, accounting for more than 70% of the world's reserves. Canada is the richest country in the world of asphalt sand resources, which accounts for more than 90% of the world's total reserves. The global Oil shale resources are very rich. According to incomplete statistics, its resources contain about 10 trillion tons, which is 40% more than that of coal resources.