Analysis of the organic matter in oil shales distributed in Korea

The organic matter in source rocks and oil shales distributed in the southeastern and southwestern parts of the Korean peninsular has been analyzed. A mixture of benzene, acetone and methanol was used to extract bitumen by Soxhlet extraction method. The extractable organic matter was separated into aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, and asphaltene by preparative thin layer chromatography. By urea adduction method, aliphatic hydrocarbons were separated into linear aliphatic hydrocarbons and cyclic or branched aliphatic hydrocarbons. The aliphatic hydrocarbons were analyzed by GC/FID and. GC/MS. The gas chromatograms for linear aliphatic hydrocarbons showed the distribution of C-12-C-35 compounds. Generally, the odd number hydrocarbons were detected more than the even number hydrocarbons. From the total ion chromatograms and mass spectra of cyclic and branched aliphatic hydrocarbons, several compounds including 1-methylpropyl-cyclohexane were identified.