Abstract
The effect of oil shale expansion and the addition of FeCl(3) on its pyrolysis behavior was studied by hydrothermal pyrolysis experiments of cylindrical oil shale at 350 °C. The expansion of oil shale promotes the development of pores and fractures, which leads to the drastic pyrolysis of kerogen and the discharge of pyrolysis products. Besides, when the radial swelling increment of the oil shale is 33% of the free expansion, the pyrolysis reaction is basically guaranteed. When the radial expansion increment of the oil shale is greater than 33% of the free expansion amount, FeCl(3) can effectively improve the yield of expelled oil by promoting the fracture of polycyclic structure and C-O bond in the kerogen, accelerating the migration of bitumen and urging the water to participate in the reaction. In addition, when the radial swelling increment of oil shale increases, the content of small molecule compounds in the expelled oil is reduced. These findings demonstrated that hydraulic fracturing of oil shale reservoirs and adding FeCl(3) can effectively guarantee the success and economy of in-situ oil shale mining.