AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
EXPLOSIVELY PRODUCED FRACTURE OF OIL SHALE PROGRESS REPORT FOR OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1983

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is conducting rock fragmentation research in oil shale to develop the blasting and fluid flow technologies required to prepare a rubble bed for a modified in situ retort. This report details our progress in the DOE/Sandia/ Los Alamos Rock Fragmentation program for this quarter.

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EXPLOSIVELY PRODUCED FRACTURE OF OIL SHALE PROGRESS REPORT FOR JANUARY-MARCH 1984

"Rock fragmentation research at Los Alamos is designed to provide the predictive capability required for developing a blasting scheme for a MIS retort and for the evaluation of the resulting rubble pile and its performance during retorting. This research is a combined program of laboratory and field experiments and numerical simulations of fragmentation, tracer flow, and retorting. The work for this year involves the excavation and postshot analysis of three of the experiments done in FY 1983. Most important of these is the archeological mineback of  the confined-volume experiment to determine if the three-dimensional distribution of particle sizes with respect to the explosive change agrees with computer predictions. In the laboratory we will continue to develop our predictive capability for the stress wave fracture of oil shale in three dimensions (accounting for grade variations and joints  in the formation) and the fracture and tumbling of the rock fragments caused by the explosive gases. We will continue to refine our 3-D tracer and 2-D retort models as data become available from field and laboratory  experiments. These codes need only to be verified with actual field data before they are ready for widespread use."

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REFINING OF MILITARY JET FUELS FROM OIL SHALE PART II, VOL. 1, PREPARATON OF LABORATORY-SCALE FUEL SAMPLES INTERIM TECHNICAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD JUNE 1979 - OCTOBER 1980

phase II work performed was directed toward the completion of two primary tasks. Task I under this phase was directed at evaluating the effect of operating conditions on material quality, energy balances, product composition, and economics. Task II was directed at obtaining scale-up data for those unit operations of the Phase I process requiring laboratory data to confirm preliminary estimates. also, nine 500-ml samples of variable quality aviation turbine fuel were produced for evaluation by AFWAL.

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REFINING OF MILITARY JET FUELS FROM OIL SHALES PART II, VOL. II, IN SITU SHALE OIL PROCESS DATA INTERIM TECHNICAL REPORT FOR PERIOD JUNE 1979 - OCTOBER 1980

"Task I under this phase-was directed at evaluating the effect of operating conditions on material quality. energy balances, product composition and economics. Task II was directed at obtaining scale-up data for those unit  operations of the Phase I process requiring laboratory data to confirm preliminary estimates. This volume presents the data generated on the Occidental in situ crude shale oil."

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REFINING OF MILITARY JET FUELS FROM SHALE  OIL PART IV PROCESS COMPUTER MODELING STUDIES, FINAL REPORT FOR PERIOD JUNE 1981 - SEPTEMBER 1981

"An overall optimization study involving computer modeling of shale upgrading was performed in Phase IV. This study utilized the analytical and experimental data from Phases I, II, and III of the program. Computer modeling of the process was used to define an economic optimum configuration. The economic and yield trade-offs of producing either JP-4 or JP-8 aviation turbine fuels as the  primary products were evaluated, along with a detailed analysis of the experimental data and definition of remaining problems."

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FRACTURING OF OIL SHALE USING RADIO-FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY AND RETORTING AT 915 MHZ

"Pillars surrounding modified in situ retorts contain large amounts of potentially recoverable shale oil. Recovery of the oil contained in the pillars within a few feet of the retorts would significantly increase oil yields. A series of tests was conducted to evaluate methods for recovering oil from pillars.  Analyses of core samples taken from a block of western oil shale that was retorted using radio-frequency energy indicate oil did not move horizontally within the block, but may have moved vertically by gravity  drainage. In a later test, a block of western oil shale was extensively fractured when the block was heated to 120 to 150·C (250 to 300·F) using radio-frequency energy at a frequency of 915 MHz. Attempts to retort the fractured block by retorting oil shale rubble adjacent to the block  were not successful. Channeling of the retorting air prevented the rubble from being heated as hot or as long as was planned. Another block of western oil shale was retorted with radio-frequency energy to acquire data to use for testing the Baker-Jarvis retorting model at a frequency of 915 MHz. The 915 MHz generator failed  after 92 hours of heating with temperatures in the block varying from 450 to 320·C (840 to 61O F). Heating was continued for 6 hours using a frequency of 2450 MHz until dielectric breakdown was observed immediately after lightning struck nearby."

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BENEFICIATION-HYDRORETORT PROCESSING OF U.S. OIL SHALES ANNUAL STATUS REPORT-PHASE II  OCTOBER 1, 1986 - SEPTEMBER 30, 1987  PART 1 AND PART II

During the first year of the grant, Phase I, evaluation tests on fourteen western and eastern oil shales  emphasized that good flotation of the shales required extremely fine grinding to free kerogen enriched shale  from relatively kerogen-free shale and other inorganic constituents such as pyrite. Grinding the shales to particle sizes of 20 microns or finer followed by a bulk flotation procedure gave kerogen concentrates yielding 2 to 3 times the oil recoverable from the raw shales by the Fischer Assay procedure. In the process as much as 75 to 80 percent of the shale could be rejected as a kerogen-depleted waste. The studies pointed out deficiencies and limitations of the standard bulk flotation procedure and  the need to optimize the flotation process to more selectively separate the kerogen from the inorganic constituents to produce concentrates of higher Fischer Assay oil yields with attendant improved Fischer Assay oil  recoveries( 1) .  Based on the results of the Phase I research, three shales were selected for comprehensive beneficiation-hydroretort testing in Phase II. The Phase II beneficiation studies focused on the following objectives:  o Optimize the beneficiation process variables to produce high quality kerogen concentrates while increasing the Fischer Assay oil recovery over those achieved during Phase I.  o Prepare bulk quantities of raw and beneficiated products for continuous hydroretorting tests by HYCRUDE in the MBU.  o Develop supporting technical and engineering data for scale up to a beneficiation plant of commercial size.  o Identify and study the environmental impacts of beneficiation.  The three shales selected for testing in Phase II were:  Designation No. MH-1, MH-2", MH-12,                   State Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan  Formation Chattanooga, New Albany, Antrim  The designation numbers relate to those assigned the shales in Phase I of the project. The shales were chosen on the basis of their physical and mineralogical constitution, Fischer Assay oil yields, availability to  surface mining, and resource potential. In order to carry out the detailed program, 500 to 1000 pound samples of tile three shales were procured. Fischer Assays and proximate and ultimate analyses of the samples are  recorded in Table 1. Unless otherwise noted, the testing was carried out using these samples.

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RESEARCH IN PROCESS DEVELOPMENT FOR HYDRORETORTING OF EASTERN OIL SHALES, SAMPLE PROCUREMENT SECOND PROGRAM YEAR FINAL REPORT

"This report describes the sampling program and the geological documentation that supported the choice of sites and stratigraphic position of samples selected for the three bulk samples collected during the second year: 1) a high-grade zone of Antrim Shale from Michigan, 2) the Cleveland Member of the Ohio Shale from Ohio and,  3) the Kentucky Sunbury Shale (Table 1 and Figure 1). In each case, the geographic location, the stratigraphic position, and the methods used in taking the sample are discussed. An appendix contains pertinent records, logs, core descriptions and analyses."

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AN EVALUATION OF SHALE OIL PRODUCTION COST DATA

In a survey of recent literature, a number of articles were found that contained some information on the cost of producing oil from oil shale. Several of the articles contained sufficient information to determine capital and operating costs for the mining and materials handling part of the process as well as for the retorting phase. Several other articles gave a total cost of production without any breakdown of those costs. When using data from these articles, tables were prepared giving the cost breakdown as accurately as possible. Charts were then prepared from these tables showing relationships between capital and operating costs and between mining, retorting, upgrading and other costs associated with shale oil production.

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SOLID STATE NMR SUMMARY REPORT

The overall strategy behind the arrangement embodied in the contract specified above was as follows. By 1982, largely on the basis of work carried out at Colorado State University (CSU) in collaboration with DOE's Laramie Energy Technology Center (LETC), it had become abundantly clear to key personnel at L[TC that solid-state 13C NMR was emerging as a key analytical technique for solid fossil fuels, e.g., oil shale. Accordingly, as LETC was at that time a lead  laboratory  in D.O.E. 's oil shale   program, it seemed apparent that this technique should be represented in LETC's "routine" analytical capabilities. Although by that time (1982) at least three companies were marketing solid-sample 13C NMR spectrometers,  it was recognized by LETC that the effective utilization of such spectrometers required a major commitment of support personnel (not only for operation, but also for the continuous program of technique upgrading and spectrometer modifications that are required to maintain state-of-the-art capabilities).

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IN SITU ENERGY RECOVERY TECHNOLOGY 5TH ANNUAL SHORT COURSE

"The 5th Annual In-Situ Energy Recovery Technology short course was presented on August 7-8, 1980 at the AMFAC Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This year we had over 100 attendees, counting guests and speakers. The new course format was well suited to the needs of the majority of attendees. The new approach was to devote the first morning period to an overview and to the basic generic technology of in-situ processes; followed by, three half-day sessions covering underground coal gasification, in-situ oil shale extraction, and other  in-situ energy recovery technologies such as geothermal, solution uranium mining, and unconventional gas recovery."

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WATER RESOURCE ISSUES AND ASSOCIATED LITERATURE PICEANCE BASIN, COLORADO

Oil shale development has the potential for various impacts on local and possibly regional ground and surface water resources. Disruptions to hydrologic systems will occur as a result of the long-term development scenario. The Bureau of Land Management must address the development and associated effects within the context of its land use planning documents, Resource Management Plans (RMP's) and environmental statements (ES's).

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MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF A CASCADING COMBUSTOR AND A FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTOR PART II, FINAL REPORT

Two types of oil shale combustors, a cascading combustor and a fluidized-bed combustor, were previously modeled using the ASPEN process simulator (Poku,  1987). In those models, combustion was assumed to occur instantaneously. As an enhancement, the rate of char combustion was modified to account for resistances  due to mass transfer, intraparticle oxygen diffusion, and kinetic rate of reaction. Whereas the previous combustor models were "semipredictive," these enhancements were added to improve the models'predictive capabilities.  In the cascading combustor, retorted shale and spent shale enter the top of the reactor and fall downward by gravity, reacting with air that is driven horizontally across the reactor. In the fluidized-bed combustor, the air  enters the bottom of the reactor and flows upward, fluidizing a bed of solids while reacting with combustible residual kerogen and char in the shale. The cascading combustor model was validated using information from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) RETORT model (Braun, 1981). Next, a series of parametric studies was conducted to demonstrate the differences between the previous models (Model I) and the enhanced models (Model II). For example, the effect of stoichiometric air ratio on the extent of char combustion was more pronounced in the case of the cascading combustor than in the fluidized bed .

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HISTORICAL UTILIZATION OF OIL SHALE - PART I

"Any oil company controller will tell you that capital-intensive oil shale operations are basically incompatible with the world's ever cyclic petroleum operations. It can even be argued that the time had already come and gone for U.S oil shale when railroad men conducted the first scientific  test on western shales in the 1870's - - - since, in that same decade petroleum was well on the ''way to becoming the world's standard fuel. The Standard Oil Group was consolidating its hold on the U.S. petroleum industry; by integrating production, transportation, distribution, and ultimately marketing, a monopolization was achieved which brought the desired stability and persistent profitability to an otherwise volatile industry. When the first oil tanker, the S.S. Charles of Belgium, began sailing the Atlantic, the U.S. already was rapidly taking over world oil markets. The discovery and subsequent production of oil by Russia during that decade, however, destabilized the European markets, and the cyclic nature of the petroleum industry took on world dimensions. By the time U.S. petroleum industry competitiveness was restored in 1911, the cyclic nature of the world industry had become an accepted phenomena - Each big new oil discovery resulted in a drop in price for the world industry as a whole, causing trauma for the  oil companies and competing industries (1). Nevertheless, oil shale industries persisted long enough in at least a  dozen countries to make an important contribution to each of those nations'fuel supply. The rise and  persistence of these industries, however, resulted from circumstances unique to each country. This paper reports on investigations of these unique circumstances to discover what they portend for U.S. oil shale operations at this critical juncture at which we await start-up of the first commercial-scale operations in the U. S. The discussion is presented on a country by country basis for clarity, but should be viewed against the background of world economic and petroleum industry events."

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THE REACTIVITY OF PYRITE IN RAW EASTERN OIL SHALE AND ITS TRANSFORMATION DURING PROCESSING

The objective of the program was to assess the potential environmental hazard posed by the surface disposal of raw and spent eastern oil shale.  Three shales: Sunbury, Cleveland and New Albany were investigated.  The spent materials were derived in the case of the Sunbury shale from the Battelle, in the case of Cleveland shale from the Rockwell, and in the case of the New Albany shale form the Hytort process.  The raw, low carbonate Sunbury and Cleveland shales were found to produce acid drainage readily on exposure to the atmosphere and water, this action was accelerated by iron oxidizing bacteria.  The raw New Albany shale behaved in a manner analogous to highly calcareous coals.  No pyrite appeared to be left in the spent shales, the presence of ferrous sulfide in the New Albany and Cleveland shales was indicated.  Mechanisms responsible for the results obtained are discussed.

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HIGH PRESSURE HYDROGENATION AND VACUUM RETORTING OF COLORADO OIL SHALE

"The oil obtained from shale by the retorting methods  presently used by the U. S. Bureau of Mines is found to  be a black. heavy material of very complex chemical  structure. and contains large amounts of unstable and  unsaturated compounds. The present study was undertaken in an attempt to improve the qua1lty, quantity, and stability of the shale oil through  hydrogenatlon. One objective of the study was to determine whether or not shale could be hydrogenated directly at temperature below that at which thermal decomposition of the organic material in the shale begins. A second object1ve was to investigate retorting of shale in a high pressure hydrogen atmosphere, and to study the effects of hydrogenation catalysts on this process. In order to avoid duplication of previous hydrogenatlon studies no dispersing medium for the shale was employed."

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SUMMARY TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF THE "USE IT ALL" OIL SHALE RETORTING PROCESS CONCEPT

"This study examined the technological and economic merits of the proposed process. The primary objective of this work was to produce study-grade estimates of capital and operating costs for comparison to competing  processes. A preliminary process design was developed including heat and material balances for the retorting section. This provided a basis for sizing and pricing  the equipment. The overall fixed capital investment for the retorting section was then developed by employing typical relationships between individual equipment costs and overall installed cost. In equipment sizing, particular  attention was paid to the choice of scale, determined largely on the basis of commercial precedent and through consultation with potential vendors. The retorting section was then integrated with the necessary upstream and  downstream process units to arrive at a fully configured facility producing 50,000 barrels per day of hydrotreated shale oil along with power, ammonia, and sulfur by-products. Following the development of the block flow diagram, the costs of the process modules other than the retorting section were generally derived by applying  exponential scaling factors to costs from the literature for identical processes at different capacities. Operating costs were determined by summing the requirements for utilities,  chemicals, catalysts, and operating labor for each process unit."

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A PLAN OF ACTION FOR WESTERN OIL SHALE DEVELOPMENT

"In summary, our nation once again is entering into an era where our dependence on foreign oil threatens our ability to preserve our future energy and national security. Moreover, this situation will worsen and become progressively more grave as the irreversible decline  in our domestically controllable reserves of conventional oil  continues. The Committee believes, therefore, that the commercial development of our nation's vast reserves of oil shale, representing our nations best economic alternative to foreign oil, will and must playa vital role in ensuring our future energy and military security.  As such and in consideration of the lead times required to  mobilize the human, capital and material resources required to commercially develop this resource, the Committee recommends that the Congress give its highest priority to the adoption of the plan of action for western oil shale development recommended herein. The  Committee, comprising a coalition of representatives from state and local governments and from private industry, stands ready to assist the members and committees of Congress in implementing this program of vested national interest ."

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MODELING THE HYTORT PROCESS FOR EASTERN OIL SHALE USING THE CRAY-1 ASPEN FLOW SHEET SIMULATOR

The Los Alamos National Laboratory Cray-1 version of the ASPEN code was used to simulate the HYTORT process for retorting eastern oil shale.  The model includes 40 unit operation blocks.  5 FORTRAN blocks and 4 design specifications.  The retort was modeled using four separate reactor blocks so that the thermal effects of the different reactions in the retort could be analyzed.  FORTRAN blocks were used extensively in the retort module to adapt the ASPEN reactor blocks to our model for the retorting reaction chemistry.  The HYTORT plant model includes a cold box for recovering H2 from the retort off-gas for recycle and a steam methane reformer unit for producing H2  for the hydrotreater and for retort make-up.  The HYTORT plant model was used to perform a process sensitivity study to relate oil and fuel gas production and oxygen consumption to retort temperatures.  The HYTORT  complex products and the greatest fuel value at a retort temperature of 1500 F, which was the higher temperature considered.

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MEASUREMENTS OF BLASTING FOR RETORTS 7,8, AND 8X

"Systems, Science and Software (S-Cubed) recorded ground motion, air pressure and detonation diagnostics during the blasting of Retorts 8X, 7 and 8. Retort 8X was blasted on January 24, 1981; Retort 7 on February  21, 1981; and Retort 8 on April 4, 1981. Gauges were located in drillholes and along the drifts near the retort and out to distances of 1100 feet. The goals were to determine if the blasting proceeded as planned and to gather basic data needed for safety and efficiency in the design of commercial retorts. Commercial use of the oil shale resource will require that retorts be developed as close to each other as safety and efficient processing permit. Predicting and controlling ground motion and air blast from blasting operations will be important aspects of the underground retorting process. The instrumentation used in this work and the measurement locations  are discussed in Section 2. Particle velocity gauges were installed in drillholes located between 50 and 100 feet from the , accessible sides of the retorts. Other particle velocity gauges were installed in the drifts at greater distances. Air pressure gauges were mounted in the drifts leading to the three retort levels. Measurement results are presented and discussed in Section 3. Conclusions are given in Section 4. In general, the blasting appears to have occurred as planned. No significant anomalies were noted. Air pressure was low, probably because of the restricted entryways. Section 5 gives our recommendations for future instrumentation."

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Annual Project Plan for Research Conducted in Oil Shale, Tar Sand, Underground Coal Gasification, Advanced Exploratory Research

The objective of research to be conducted in this activity is to define the fundamental characteristics of oil shales so that this information can be used to develop better understandings of conversation processes and effects on the environment. Particular attention will be given to determining the temperature and time behavior of bitumen during isothermal and nonisothermal pyrolysis. Very little experimental data have been reported on bitumen production during oil shale decomposition, although it is considered to be an important intermediate in practically all oil shale decomposition models. The data obtained can then be used to understand better the reaction chemistry and transport processes in retorting and environmental systems.

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Annual Project Plan for Research Conducted in Oil Shale, Tar Sand, Underground Coal Gasification, Advanced Process Technology, Advanced Fuels Research

The objective of research to be conducted in this activity is to define the fundamental characteristics of oil shales so that this information can be used to develop better understandings of conversation processes and effects on the environment. Particular attention will be given to determining the temperature and time behavior of bitumen during isothermal and nonisothermal pyrolysis. Very little experimental data have been reported on bitumen production during oil shale decomposition, although it is considered to be an important intermediate in practically all oil shale decomposition models. The data obtained can then be used to understand better the reaction chemistry and transport processes in retorting and environmental systems.

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