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The autothermic pyrolysis in-situ conversion process (ATS) consumes latent heat of residual organic matter after kerogen pyrolysis by oxidation reaction, and it has the advantages of low development cost and exploitation of deep oil shale resources. However, the heating mechanism and the characteristic of different reaction zones are still unclear. In this study, an ATS numerical simulation model was proposed for the development of oil shale, which considers the pyrolysis of kerogen, high-temperature oxidation, and low-temperature oxidation. Based on the above model, the mechanism of the ATS was analyzed and the effects of preheating temperature, O2 content, and injection rate on recovery factor and energy efficiency were studied. The results showed that the ATS in the formation can be divided into five characteristic zones by evolution of the oil and O2 distribution, and the solid organic matter, including residue zone, autothermic zone, pyrolysis zone, preheating zone, and original zone. Energy efficiency was much higher for the ATS than for the high-temperature nitrogen injection in-situ conversion process (HNICP). There is a threshold value of the preheating temperature, the oil content, and the injection rate during the ATS, which is 400 °C, 0.18, and 1100 m3/day, respectively, in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]