Analytical studies on Australian shale oils

New analytical methods were developed for the analysis of shale oil. They included two for the complete chemical class separation of shale oil, one for the resolution of 1-6 ring aromatic hydrocarbons and one for the quantitation of nitriles by infrared spectrophotometry (IR). The first chemical class separation scheme was an extension of an existing method and employed a combination of acid and base extraction and open column chromatography. The fractions collected comprised alkanes, alkenes, n-alkadienes, n-alkylmonoaromatics,