Understanding the pyrolysis progress physical characteristics of Indonesian oil sands by visual experimental investigation

The oil sand pyrolysis progress in this study was captured by a digital camera. The pyrolysis experiments were carried out in a fixed bed batch reactor at a heating rate of 10 °C/min. The solid products of different final temperature were identified by way of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the specific surface area and pore volume were determined by way of isothermal adsorption. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was conducted to obtain a weight loss acceleration curve to study the accumulated liquid amount in the channels of the solid particles. It was found that the first light and second heavy organic film appeared in the low and high temperature region respectively. The specific surface area and pore volume of the solid products was not increasing throughout the process. The accumulated liquid amount peaked at 230 °C and 460 °C respectively. On the basis of the experimental results and findings, an oil sand pyrolysis progress physical model (PPP model) was proposed.