Desulfurization, denitrogenation and deoxygenation of shale oil

Abstract

Producing valuable transportation fuels from shale oil has long been a goal, but to meet modern environmental regulations significant upgrading is required to remove heteroatoms. The large quantities of sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen in shale oil is one of the major obstacles that limit its use. Unlike petroleum upgrading, where desulfurization is the main process, for shale oils denitrification and deoxygenation are also important. This review compiles and summarizes the extensive research that has been performed on removing sulfur, nitrogen and oxygen from shale oil. By far the most widely researched method has been hydrotreatment, but work done with other methods is also presented.