Oil shale in China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oil shale in China is an important source of unconventional oil. A total Chinese oil shale resource amounts of 720 billion tonnes, located in 80 deposits of 47 oil shale basins. This is equal to 48 billion tonnes of shale oil.[1] At the same time there are speculations that the actual resource may even exceed the oil shale resource of the United States.[2]
The oil shale industry was established in China already in the 1920s.[3] After decrease in the production, the industry started to increase and as of 2008; several companies are engage in the shale oil production or the oil shale-based power generation.[3] After 2005, China became the largest shale oil producer in the world.[4] In 2011, the country produced about 650,000 tonnes of shale oil. Most of production facilities are Fushun-type retorts.[5]
At the end of 2006, the Fushun Shale Oil Plant was the largest oil shale plant in the world.[6][7][8] In 2005, the China National Oil Shale Association was established in Fushun.[1][3] The main oil shale research institution in China is the China University of Petroleum.[3]
From 2004 to 2006 China undertook the national oil shale evaluation. According to the evaluation, it has been estimated that a total Chinese oil shale resource amounts of 720 billion tonnes, located in 80 deposits of 47 oil shale basins. This is equal to 48 billion tonnes of shale oil.[1] The proven oil shale reserves comprise about 36 billion tonnes.[3]
| Province | In-place oil shale resources (billion tonnes) | Oil yield (Fischer Assay) |
|---|---|---|
| Fushun, Liaoning | 3.6 | 6.5% |
| Maoming, Guangdong | 4.1 | 7% |
| Huadian, Jilin | 0.3 | 10% |
| Longkou, Shandong | 0.1 | 14% |
| Nong'an, Jilin | 16 | 4.5% |
The principle Chinese reserves with commercial importance lie in Fushun (Liaoning), Maoming (Guangdong), Huadian and Nong'an (Jilin), and Longkou (Shandong).[1][9] The Longkou deposit has the highest oil content (about 14%).[5]
The Fushun oil-shale and coal deposit of Eocene age is located in north-eastern China, south of Fushun, Liaoning. Coal and oil shale are in a small outlier of Mesozoic and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks underlain by Precambrian granitic gneiss. The thickness of the layer of oil shale varies from 48 metres (157 ft) to 190 metres (620 ft) with the average of 80 metres (260 ft). The lacustrine origin oil shale is presented in the Jijuntun Formation, overlying the Guchengzi Formation consisting coal and underlying of green mudstone of the Xilutian Formation.[9]
The Tertiary age Maoming oil-shale deposit is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) wide, and 20 metres (66 ft) to 25 metres (82 ft) thick. The ore is yellow brown and the bulk density is about 1.85. The oil shale contains 72.1% ash, 10.8% moisture, 1.2% sulfur, with a heating value of 1,745 kcal/kg (dry basis). It is not suitable for above-ground retorting, but it could be used for a power generation by a fluidized bed combustion.[9]
Professor Alan R. Carroll of University of Wisconsin–Madison estimates that Upper Permian lacustrine oil shale deposits of the Junggar-Turpan-Hami basins in northwest China, absent from previous global oil shale assessments, are comparable to the Green River Formation.[2]
History
The extraction of oil shale in China began in 1926 under the Japanese rule.[9] The commercial-scale production of shale oil began in 1930 in Fushun, Manchuria, with the construction of the "Refinery No. 1" operating Fushun-type retorts.[4][9] After World War II, the shale oil production was ceased, but 100 Fushun-type oil shale retorts and the related shale oil processing units were restored in 1949 after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.[3] In 1950, total 266 retorts were in operation, each with the capacity of 100–200 tonnes shale oil per day.[4]
In 1954, the "Refinery No. 2" began its production and in 1959, the maximum annual shale oil production increased to 780,000 tonnes.[3][4] The produced shale oil was acid and alkaline washed and hydrotreated for producing light liquid fuels.[1][10] In 1961, China was producing one third of its total oil production from oil shale.[4] In Maoming, Guangdong Province, a new oil shale retorting plant with 64 retorts was put into operation in 1963.[1]
Since 1965, oil shale usage in Fushun started to decline.[6] With the discovery of Daqing oilfield in the 1960s, the shale oil production declined and Sinopec, an operator of shale oil production these times, shut down its oil shale operations in the beginning of the 1990s.[3] At the same time, the Fushun Oil Shale Retorting Plant was established as a part of the Fushun Mining Group. It started production in 1992.[9] In 2005, China became the largest shale oil producer in the world.[4] At the same year, China National Oil Shale Association was established in Fushun.[1][3]
