Effect of Double Transition Metal Salt Catalyst on Fushun Oil Shale Pyrolysis

Shale ash (SA) as the carrier, the ratio of Cu to Ni in the Cu-Ni transition metal salt being, respectively, 1 : 0, 2 : 1, 1 : 1, 1 : 2, 0 : 1, the double transition metal salt catalyst (Cu_mNi_n/SA) was prepared to explore the effect of such catalysts on the pyrolysis behavior and characteristics of Fushun OS. The research results show that the temperature (T _max) corresponding to the maximum weight loss rate decreased by 12.9°C, 4.0°C, and 3.6°C; and the apparent activation energy decreased by 35.2%, 33.9%, and 29.6%, respectively, after adding catalysts Cu₀Ni₁/SA in pyrolysis. The addition of Cu₀Ni₁/SA and Cu₂Ni₁/SA further improves the shale oil (SO) yield of 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively. Cu₀Ni₁/SA produces more aromatic hydrocarbons, which, however, weakens the stability of SO and is of toxicity in use. After analyzing the pyrolysis product-semicoke (SC) and SO-with ATR-FTIR and GC-MS methods, Cu_mNi_n/SA promotes the secondary cracking and aromatization of OS pyrolysis, increasing the content of the compound of olefins and aromatics in SO, and hastening the decomposition of long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons to short-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons.