INTRODUCTION
The failure, over the past decades, of oil production oil shale projects is particularly due to their large size, the heavy investments they require, and the ensuing financial risk that is aggravated by the volatility of oil prices. As the current trend for environmental conservation is to avoid the combustion of any fossil fuels, projects to produce electric power from shale have also failed. It is therefore appropriate to move towards the non-energy use of oil shale. In this type of project, the oil shales are processed according to their physicochemical properties and the thermal energy they produce contributes to the energy requirements for the manufacturing of the desired product. the first application on non-energetic use of oil shale developed by CHAPEM consisted in producing new adsorbents (activated oil shales) to be used for water treatment. The second application, under development, targets the production of clinker and cement from Tarfaya oil shales.
Activated Oil Shale for Water Treatment.
Together with Pr. Hassan Hannache of Hassan II University, Dr Omar Bekri is the co-author of an international patent relating to new adsorbents obtained by activating oil shale. Activated oil shale, that can be used for water treatment, removes efficiently heavy metals, radioactive elements, organic materials, and micro-organisms.
This new process that was patented locally and worldwide (WO2008014526 & US20090308793) earned CHAPEM to win the 1998 Hassan II Grand Prix for Innovation (See Photos Gallery).
49. Environmental use of activated oil shale in petroleum activities M. Azzou, H. Hannache, A. Kherbeche and O. Bekri, 2nd International Conference on Petroleum & The Environment, 15-17 December 1998, Cairo- Egypt.
50. Removal of Uranium and Thorium by activated oil shales – Dr Omar Bekri, Chapem, Morocco - Workshop on uranium recovery from phosphates and phosphoric acid organized by INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA), Marrakech, 31 October - 4 November 2011.
51. Activation of Oil Shales and their Utilisation in Wastewater Treatment, A. Azzou, PhD thesis in Chemistry, Ben M’Sik Faculty of Science, Hassan II University, Casablanca, October 1999.
52. Activation, Refining and Use of Oil Shale, WO and US patents :
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Cement from Oil Shale
Based on the unique hydraulic properties of the Tarfaya shale, [Ref. 53], CHAPEM is developing a new clinker manufacturing process using Tarfaya oil shale.
53. The Use of Tarfaya Oil Shale Ash as an Additive to Cement Clinker, O. Bekri, A. Reggad, Proceedings of the 1992 Eastern Oil Shale Symposium, Lexington, Kentucky.
