Key words: oil shale, supercritical water, even/odd ratio, alkanes, alkenes, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, benzo- and dibenzothiophenes
The composition of oily fractions (OFs) formed by the Kashpir oil shale conversion in a flow of water vapor and supercritical water under uniform heating from 300 to 550 °C is studied by means of gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry, IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. A maximum yield of oil fraction is observed at 360–390 °C. Alkanes, alkenes, alkyl-derivatives of naphthalene and benzothiophene are the major components of OFs formed below 440 °C. A significant predominance of even alkanes and alkenes over their odd homologies is detected above 440 °C. The peculiarities in the varying of the content of specific groups and individual polyaromatic substances are discussed.