The existence of a standard is necessary for assessing the quality of both shale oil and fuel and for the marketing of shale fuel oil with different characteristics and different names.

The standard deals with the fractions of shale oil produced by retorting from Estonian kukersite-oil shale, sets out the classification and specifications of shale oil, which guarantee the compliance of commercial shale oil with the quality requirements, and distinguishes the shale oil obtained from kukersite from fracking shale oil and other similar liquid fuels. The Standard was published in November 2021.

"Estonian shale oil is used as fuel oil and as a component of marine fuel, which is why there was a need to establish standard values for the characteristic sizes of shale oil fractions. Liquid fuels are often mixed together from different components, which can affect any specific characteristic of the final product,“ explained the need to prepare a standard Indrek Aarna, head of the Development Department of Viru Keemia Grupp and  the compiler of this standard and head of the Working Group of Shale Oil standards.

Shale oils have already been registered with the European Chemicals Agency in accordance with the REACH regulation, which defines shale oils as difficult-to-identify substances. "Thus, the nature of a substance is defined according to the feedstock, oil shale, and the production process, i.e. retorting. Each new raw material, different from it, is supplemented by additional substances with different properties, and such additives should also be subject to a new registration in REACH. The same logic was used in the preparation of the initial Estonian standard for the quality of shale oil as fuel," added Aarna.

According to EVS / TK 57 Secretary Anu Nuut, the preparation of national standards is a much more serious and time-consuming undertaking than the transposition of reprints. The compiling of the standard was proposed in spring 2019. "The existence of the national Estonian standard is necessary for assessing the quality of both shale oil as a fuel and for the marketing of shale fuel oil with different characteristics and different names. The existence of the Estonian standard is also important for international cooperation with the relevant working groups of Mirror Committees,” added Nuut.

A working group was formed at the Technical Committee for Standardization in the field of oil shale to prepare the original standard, consisting of experts of the Estonian Chemical Industry Association, Viru Keemia Grupp, Eesti Energia, Kiviõli Keemiatööstus, Estonian Environmental Research Centre, Tallinn University of Technology, University of Tartu, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Fuel Technology Research and Testing laboratory of Virumaa College of Tallinn University of Technology. The Working Group carried out an expert assessment of the standard and submitted proposals and opinions on an ongoing basis.

The new standard for shale oil has been published on the website of the Estonian Centre for Standardization and Accreditation and a preview of the standard can be viewed here.

The Technical Committee for Standardisation in the field of oil shale EVS / TK57 "processing of oil shale and oil shale products" was established at the Estonian Centre for Standardisation in 2015. The committee looks at standards related to oil shale extraction and processing technologies, production of shale oil, oil shale chemistry and energy, and processing of waste rocks and waste products. The existence of standards applied to oil shale simplifies and supports the daily activities and development of laboratories. Since the initial years of the establishment of the Technical Committee for Standardisation, 12 standards have been published with the support of the committee. More about standardisation in the field of oil shale  you can read here.

Additional information: Anu Nuut, anu.nuut@taltech.ee, TalTech Virumaa College Oil Shale Competence Centre IO expert, Secretary of  EVS/TK 57