Key words: oil shales, supercritical fluid extraction, pyrolysates, components, structure, composition
The conversion of high-sulfur oil shale in a supercritical benzene stream at 10 MPa and temperatures up to 400 °C is studied. The composition of the resulting liquid products was characterized by IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy, the structural group analysis and gas chromatography-mass-spectrometry. The content of resin-asphaltene substances in pyrolysates decreases, the content of aromatic fragments in their structure increases, while that of aliphatic fragments decreases at increasing temperature along with a decrease in the content of polar components in the oily fraction. The compounds identified in the oils are represented by normal and branched alkanes, alkenes, saturated or unsaturated naphthenes, mono-, bi-, tri-, tetra- and pentacyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as by the thiophene, benzo-, dibenzo- and naphthobenzothiophene derivatives, ali phatic ethers and ketones.