Risk identification is the process of determining what can go wrong, why and how. The estonian state cares about the oil shale industry andreas laane chairman of the management board alexela group to mark the centennial of oil shale mining, we have delved into the history, looked back at the develop. Definition sedimentary rock with a high organic content organic matter is known as kerogen kerogen. Characterization of chinese, american and estonian oil.
Oil shale is an organicrich finegrained sedimentary rock containing kerogen a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced, called shale oil not to be confused with tight oilcrude oil occurring naturally in shales. Oil shale research in the united states 5 september 2011 third edition foreword significant research efforts continue in the united states to address some of the technical, economic, and policy uncertainties that constrain the development of americas enormous oil shale resource. They cause stability problems in gasoline, jet and diesel fuels, and produce nox emissions in burners. Reinsalu department of mining, tallinn university of technology 5 ehitajate rd. With this step the state would make it possible for the companies to save money in. Estonian oil shale compiled by mihkel koel in 1999 1. Like conventional oil, shale oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, and it is characterized using bulk properties of the oil. Oil shale refers to a type of crude oil that can be refined from sedimentary rock. Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution.
Jun 21, 2014 it makes using the oil shale more efficient, but oil shale remains the carbonrichest fuel in europe. In 2012, the countrys oil shale industry employed 6,500 people about 1% of the national workforce. A study on the eu oil shale industry viewed in the light of. The yearbook of the estonian oil shale industry was issued by.
By march 2006 one billion tonnes of oil shale had been produced in estonia. The business daily aripaev proposes coupling the raw materials tax the oil shale sector pays to oil prices in a bid to help the flailing industry. A new story from estonian public broadcasting sheds more light on the devastating environmental impact oil shale has on the small, european nation. Old tires are a big disaster for nature, but for oil producers, it is energyrich material, as one ton of tires contains about 4 times more oil th. Oil shale a better term would be kerogenbearing rock starts its long life in much the same way as conventional oil. European union european structural and investment funds.
Characterization of chinese, american and estonian oil shale. Evaluation of oil shale mining heritage in estonia k. The existence of sharp boundaries between limestone particles, pyrite and other constituents of semicoke was shown. Tbp curve of a sample light sweet crude oil is being used currently. Analysis of estonian oil shale resources and mining possibilities intensified during the early 20th century while estonia was part of the russian empire. Oil shale heatcapacity relations and heats of pyrolysis. Amman, natural resources authority, hashemite kingdom of jordan, 98 p. Oil shale research in the united states 2011 draft2. Guo encyclopedia of life support systems eolss are wellknown catalytic poisons in various refining processes. Characteristics of estonian oil shale oil shale kerogen shale oil c, % 76. In the course of restructuring the estonian energy system, the estonian. Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons pahs in. Shale oil can also contain significant quantities of heteroatoms.
Oil processing design specifications oil composition 1. The hits just keep coming against estonian oil shale. Estonia has put itself on the map of the world with oil shale. Pdf on mar 2, 2007, aaloe a and others published kukersite oil shale find, read and cite all the research you need. Of all the oil shale fired power stations in the world, the two largest are in this country. Shale oil, in fossil fuel production, either a synthetic crude oil that is extracted from oil shale by means of pyrolysis or a naturally occurring crude oil that is extracted from underground shale deposits by means of fracking hydraulic fracturing. Types of oil shale ash and methods for increasing their. Oil shales are classified as composites which are tightly bound organics and inorganics. Estonias oil shale deposits account for just 17% of total deposits in the european union but the country generates 90% of its power from this source. Like coal, the worlds reserves of oil shales are vast being many times larger than those proven for crude oil. Composition, geochemistry and conversion of oil shales c.
Hamarneh, yousef, 1998, oil shale resources development in jordan. Oil shale that was found near johvi in 1725 has been reported in guldenstadts twovolume travelogue of a journey through russia. Petersburg where it is known as the leningrad deposit. In this particular technology were good, were the masters, said konstantin dotsenko, an estonian energy trader. Petersburg fields russia, and lower ordovician dictyonema shale. Mineral composition of estonian oil shale semicoke. Oil shale is the most important mineral resource in estonia and among the major oil shale mining countries estonia, russia, china, brasil, australia and germany, estonia holds the leading position with the highest quantity. Mineralogy of the oil shale ash deposits at eesti thermal power.
Successful upgrading of estonian shale oil via hydrotreating. The estonian oil shale processing company vkg announced the dismissal of 500 employees on friday, saying that the measure was the result of the low oil prices. Estonian oil shale properties and utilization in power. On the basis of sem and edax methods the distribution of key elements in estonian oil shale semicoke particles was characterized. Mineral composition of estonian oil shale semicoke sediments.
Utilization of estonian oil shale semicoke sciencedirect. Sustainability assessment of estonian oil shale mining 365 methods being employed at the early stages of the process. The oil shale industry in estonia is one of the most developed in the world. Indeed, some of the largest deposits occur in the usa and europe where estonia and turkey have large reserves.
Johann anton guldenstadt the most arcane scientist in the history of estonian oil shale research is johann anton guldenstadt 17451781. An educational experience, it demonstrates the journey of oil shale, shows how energy is created and showcases information on the subject of future trends in the energy sector. The oil shale industry, which produces the bulk of estonias energy, is responsible for about 80 percent of the pollution and carbon emissions. Geologists can classify oil shales on the basis of their composition as carbonaterich.
Oil shale mining can disturb the landscape and hydrological regime. The oil shale industry in estonia employs 7,500 peopleabout one percent of the national work forceand accounts for four percent of its gross domestic product. However, active exploration only began as a result of fuel shortages brought on by world war i. Prikk department of thermal engineering, tallinn university of technology, estonia abstract over 90% of the estonian basic power supply is covered by oil shalefired thermal power plants. A study on the eu oil shale industry viewed in the light. The organic matter of oil shale is composed mostly of kerogen with few percent of bitumen, the two being differentiated by solubility in organic solvents. The estonian oil shale had the highest value of 77 gpt, whereas the three colorado oil shale samples had estimated fischer assays of 21, 27 and 51 gpt and those compared well to values provided by the oil shale supplier see table 1. Jan 19, 2016 the estonian oil shale processing company vkg announced the dismissal of 500 employees on friday, saying that the measure was the result of the low oil prices. You must book underground guided tour before visit via email.
Ticket sales for the underground museum end two hours before the museum is closed, and ticket sales for the enrichment factory end an hour before closing time. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil. He calls for dropping oil shale, arguing that estonian can get all its energy from bio. Life cycle analysis of the estonian oil shale industry energiatalgud. Could estonias oil shale bolster europes energy security.
Environmental problems in the estonian oil shale industry. Oil shales of different deposits differ by, for example, genesis, composition, calorific value and oil yield. The ordovician kukersite deposits of estonia have been known since the 1700s. Estonian oil shale industry in 2016 estonian oil shale industry in 2015 income into the state treasury 103 million total investments 70 million investments into the environment 31 million sales revenue 663 million positions for 7387 people estonian oil shale industry in 2017. Part of the nato science series book series asdt, volume 28. The composition, calorific value and oil yield by fischer of pure kero. If more information becomes available, use of quantitative analysis will be necessary. It is the basis of estonias energy production and chemical industry. The largest estonian producer of electricity and heat energy is the narva power plants, owned by eesti energia, which provide over 90% of the electricity produced in estonia. Oil shale is a major natural resource of estonia narva olitehasis already processing estonian oil shale rock in its two commercial tsk140 retorts tsk recirculatingsolid heat carrier retort eesti energiathrough as narva olitehasis planning a major expansion to its oil shale retorting operations driversfor upgrading. Nearly half of the oil shale dry mass is left after combustion or shaleoil extraction as a solid residue. The inorganic part of estonian kukersite oil shale consists of carbonates and. The relations describe the sensible heats of the minerals, kerogen, and char, and. Coal, oil shale, natural bitumen, heavy oil and peat vol.
Estonian oil shale resources and usage 299 table 1. Geopolymerization of the estonian oil shale solid heat. The estonian oil shale deposit accounts for just 17% of all deposits in the eu, but estonia generates over 90% of its power from oil shale, and the oil shale energy sector accounts for 4% of estonian gdp. Every year about 11 million tons of oil shale ash content. A vast literature is available on the chemical analysis of solid wastes from coal combustion, whereas there is a lack of data concerning the oil shale processing residues.
Roose2 1institute of agricultural and environmental sciences, estonian university of life sciences, estonia 2institute of ecology and earth sciences, university of tartu, estonia abstract the evaluation of mining heritage and landscapes has been a topic of worldwide. The easiest way to understand oil shale is to look at its geological origins. Oil shale in estonia is an important resource for the national economy. Estonian oil shale power plants ash handling problems. Stinky water, sweet oil a daily reckoning white paper report by dan denning.
Waste management in estonian oil shale industry 3 the crosssectional area of the pillars is 3045 m2, depending on the depth of the oil shale bed. Guoquan, shi, 1988, shale oil industry in maoming, in proceedings international conference on oil shale and shale oil. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock into synthetic oil and gas. There are two oil shale types in estoniadictyonema argillite claystone and kukersite. Jun 05, 2015 in 2011 eesti energia bought a large oil shale deposit in the us state of utah, which the company believes contains 2. Its characterization and possible use in remediation.
Estonia sees a bright future for oil shale financial times. Oil shale can be a confusing term and the reason is that it can contain crude oil, bitumen, and even natural gas. The resulting oil can be used immediately as a fuel or upgraded to meet refinery feedstock specifications by adding hydrogen and removing impurities such as sulfur. Oil production by retorting of oil shale started to be a profitable business during times of restricted resources and high prices of oil products. Since the 1960s, estonia has been the largest oil shale producer and consumer in the world. Estonian oil shale power plants ash handling problems h. Brief history of oil shale mining and consumption in estonia. The kerogen within oil shale is also of different organic composition than coal, which enjoys a more matured organic makeup that is lower in hydrogen and higher in oxygen than oil shale kerogen. Oilshale production in that year was 17,000 tons by. Industrial development was under way in saint petersburg known as petrograd in 191424, but regional fuel resources were in short supply. In the republic of estonia, electricity is produced by hightemperature 12001400c combustion of powdered oil shale, which contains 2025% organic matter and 6070% mineral matter. We are global oil shale toward a smarter estonian oil shale industry hando sutter chairman of the management board of eesti energia the 100th anniversary of oil shale industry in estonia. In estonia technologies for oil shale mining and consuming have been continuously developed for more than 80 years. Update with compositional model results production 1.
State subsidies for oil shale companies in 1997 amounted to 2. For estonia s oil shale industry, 2017 was still a comp licated period. The most dispersed ingredients in semicoke were clayminerals. The oil shale industry, which produces the bulk of estonias energy, is responsible for about 80 percent of the pollution and carbon. The kukersite deposits occupy more than 50,000 km2 in northern estonia and extend eastward into russia toward st.
Oil shale is an organicrich finegrained sedimentary rock containing kerogen a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced, called shale oil not to be confused with tight oil crude oil occurring naturally in shales. Although different aspects of estonian oil shale, its geology, composition and use are well studied e. The marinetype estonian dictyonema argillite also known as dictyonema oil shale, dictyonema shale or alum shale of an early ordovician age is a brown lithified claystone belonging to the formation of black shales of sapropelic origin. Roomandpillar technology gives an extraction factor of 7080 %. Due to changeable global oil market prices, the year started off with a steep decline, but the second half brought. Toward a smarter estonian oil shale industry hando sutter chairman of the management board of eesti energia the 100th anniversary of oil shale industry in estonia was celebrated at a turbulent economic juncture. Sep 01, 2007 although different aspects of estonian oil shale, its geology, composition and use are well studied e.
Shale oil usually contains large quantities of olefinic and aromatic hydrocarbons. Unlike shale oil, the liquid obtained by hydraulic fracturing fracking miles underground, estonia s oil shale is a sedimentary rock containing kerogen found close to the surface. These are in agreement with commonly reported values for such shales such as those given by miknis et al. Unesco eolss sample chapters coal, oil shale, natural bitumen, heavy oil and peat vol.