Raman/FTIR spectroscopy of oil shale retort gases

A Raman facility was assembled in order to aid in the evaluation of the feasibility of using Raman or FTIR spectroscopy for analyzing gas mixtures of interest in oil shale. Applications considered in oil shale research included both retort monitoring and laboratory kinetic studies. Both techniques gave limits of detection between 10 and 1000 ppM for ten representative pertinent gases. Both techniques are inferior as a general analytical technique for oil shale gas analysis in comparison with mass spectroscopy, which had detection limits between 1 and 50 ppM for the same gases. The conclusion of the feasibility study was to recommend that mass spectroscopic techniques be used for analyzing gases of interest to oil shale