An important bit of information has just been brought to my attention...
So important, in fact, that I have chosen to make it available for your perusal today. It is the technique called “Acidization”, where hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids are used to “demineralize” oil shales and tar sands for the specific purpose of kerogen extraction. It is a method used that is not as highly visible to the public as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”, but the consequences of these drilling methods may possibly be even more devastating geochemically, as well as environmentally.
For those who are unaware of these oil shale extraction techniques, in broad strokes, Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is used for the dissolution of carbonate minerals (e. g., calcite, dolomite), and Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is used for the dissolution of silicate minerals (e. g., hydrous clays, quartz) that might be associated with or found within a shale formation. Both are incredibly powerful mineral acids that free trapped kerogen (i. e., primary organic component of oil shale) and allow it to be pumped and retrieved more readily.
Below are two recent articles on this subject that may be of interest. I have also included one research article and two publisher links to articles investigating kerogen extraction methods from Green River Shale [published in journals from the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 1968, and 1984] and Monterey Shale [Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Halliburton in 2012] for your perusal, as well.
Worse than Fracking? California Environmentalists terrified by Acid Jobs
(RT.com, May 28, 2013)
http://rt.com/usa/california-fracking-rules-debate-895/
Hydraulic Fracturing: California’s proposed moratorium may not apply to other drilling in Monterey shale –Activists
(Anne E. MILKERN, EnergyWire Reporter; May 20, 2013) http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059981451
Research Articles:
Analysis of the Mineral Entrapped Fatty Acids Isolated from Green River Shale (Eocene) [BURLINGAME and SIMONEIT, 1968]
http://web.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20archive/Files/12_1_SAN%20FRANCISCO_03-68_0132.pdf
A Method for the Isolation of Kerogen from Green River Oil Shale
(GOKLEN et al., 1984)
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/i300014a028?journalCode=iepra6
Acidizing Optimization: Monterey Shale, California
(TREHAN et al., 2012)
http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=SPE-154257-MS
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