AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Underground coal gasification: Technology status report

The US Department of Energy's Morgantown Energy Technology Center is conducting a program in underground coal gasification (UCG). The purpose of this program is to develop the technology for converting coal seams, in place, to a combustible gas that can be cleaned, treated, and upgraded for a variety of end uses, such as the production of chemicals, substitute natural gas, liquid fuels, and electrical power. Coal resources targeted for UCG processing are those coal seams that are unsuitable for recovery using current mining technology because of technical, environmental, health and safety, or economic factors. Conceptually, UCG processing is relatively simple and straightforward. Wells are drilled from the surface to provide access to the target coal seam. One well serves for injection of an oxidant, such as air or a mixture of oxygen and steam, into the seam, while another well serves as a production well for the gasification process gases. These two process wells are connected within the seam using one of several linking techniques to provide an open pathway for the flow of large quantities of gaseous products. Surface treatment of the product gas stream is similar to that for surface gasification processes. The Program is divided into two main technical areas or subprograms: (1) Process Technology, and (2) Process Monitoring, Control, and Environmental Impact Mitigation. The intent of this report is to present the research and accomplishments since 1983 by discussing the elements in these two subprograms that are inhibiting the commercialization of UCG: (1) site suitability, (2) process well linkage, (3) process control, and (4) environmental risks. 60 refs., 12 figs.

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Permeability from single and multiple detonations in boreholes. [32 refs]

"We are currently in the midst of an energy crisis, and it is generally recognized that a mineral crisis also looms on the horizon. Recent productivity trends in U.S. surface mining show the industry losing ground in comparison with other industries at home and abroad in competing for capital. This is primarily a result of the fact that increases in equipment handling capacity have been more than offset by the need to turn to lower-grade ores. This situation has been further complicated by inflation and other factors. Greater attention is, therefore, being focused on in situ processes for mineral recovery.  Methods of in situ recovery fall into three categories. First, an ore body may possess sufficient native permeability for direct in situ recovery through boreholes. Secondly, if the natural permeability is low, stimulation by hydraulic fracturing, explosive detonation, or some other means will be necessary. Finally the formation may be so impermeable that a modified in situ process involving partial mining and the use of explosives will be required to generate permeability sufficient for processing.  Considering the convenience and potential lower cost of borehole recovery, it would be very desirable to render as many deposits as possible amenable to this technique. For low-permeability deposits, an array of explosively loaded wellbores offers the possibility of creating a distribution of many fractures not achievable by other techniques. If fractures with sufficient porosity to create permeability can be generated, then a viable in situ recovery process may be possible.  Explosives are often discussed in the context of in situ recovery. However, only recently have serious attempts been made to understand the mechanisms controlling enhancement of permeability by means of explosives."

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Analysis of the coal industry in Boulder-Weld coalfield, Colorado

"Coal deposits in the Boulder-Weld County coalfield in Colorado are analyzed in relation to economic factors governing the growth, stability, and competitive potential of the coal industry. Recoverable reserves, estimated to be 571 million tons, are discussed in detail, particularly those in the Erie and Frederick quadrangles. Geology of the coal measures, quantity and quality of water resources and chemical and physical properties of the coal are described. Coal production factors, including mining techniques and equipment, labor requirements, transportation facilities and rates, and markets, are considered with respect to trends in competitive fuels.  Growth of the fuels market, through increasing thermal-electric power generation in the Denver Metropolitan Area, will stimulate coal production in Colorado. Reserves of the contiguous Boulder-Weld coalfield, if mined in a sustained, year-around, high-tonnage operation, could be used to supply much of that fuel demand."

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Mobility control and scaleup for chemical flooding. Annual report, August 1979-July 1980

This report presents the results of the first year of our research on Mobility Control and Scaleup. Specifically, we report results on these items: (1) simulation development, (2) history matching core floods, (3) transport experiments, (4) oil recovery experiments and (5) rheology experiments. Both 1-D and 2-D micellar/polymer simulators have been under development. This research involves physical property modelling, model formulation, numerical techniques, coding, testing, and applications. The 1-D simulator has been used to match various core floods. The transport experiments include low-tension, steady-state relative permeabilities and multiphase dispersion. The oil recovery experiments are for history matching purposes. Extensive physical property data were collected to support all of the flow experiments and for use as input to our simulators. This integrated program of experiments and simulation, including theoretical analysis, is designed to both enhance our understanding of the process, and to improve our capability to reliably scale it up from the laboratory to the field.

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Hydrocarbon type analysis of jet fuels by /sup 1/H and /sup 13/C NMR

This report describes the application of NMR spectroscopy to the chemical characterization without prior chromatographic separation of jet fuels and various fuel blends containing varying amounts of paraffinic and aromatic constituents. Equations are derived by which the total percent paraffins and aromatics as well as percent monoaromatics and diaromatics can be calculated. Computer programs for the various calculations are included. The results obtained by NMR are compared to those obtained by MS.

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Recovery of Navy distillate fuel from reclaimed product. Volume I. Technical discussion

In an effort to assist the Navy to better utilize its waste hydrocarbons, NIPER, with support from the US Department of Energy, is conducting research designed to ultimately develop a practical technique for converting Reclaimed Product (RP) into specification Naval Distillate Fuel (F-76). The first phase of the project was focused on reviewing the literature and available information from equipment manufacturers. The literature survey has been carefully culled for methodology applicable to the conversion of RP into diesel fuel suitable for Navy use. Based upon the results of this study, a second phase has been developed and outlined in which experiments will be performed to determine the most practical recycling technologies. It is realized that the final selection of one particular technology may be site-specific due to vast differences in RP volume and available facilities. A final phase, if funded, would involve full-scale testing of one of the recommended techniques at a refueling depot. The Phase I investigations are published in two volumes. Volume 1, Technical Discussion, includes the narrative and Appendices I and II. Appendix III, a detailed Literature Review, includes both a narrative portion and an annotated bibliography containing about 800 referenvces and abstracts. This appendix, because of its volume, has been published separately as Volume 2. 18 figures, 4 tables.

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Kerogen decomposition under elevated pressures. [Use of isothermal and nonisothermal methods]

A series of experiments on oil shale retorting have been carried out under both isothermal and nonisothermal conditions and at different pressures. The produced shale oil was separated into five individual components: Polar, Weak Polar, Saturates, Aromatics and Olefin by applying a comprehensive analytical procedure. The effects of retorting pressure and heating rate have been studied. The oil yield under high pressure (765 kPa) is about 10% less than the oil yield under ambient pressure (78 kPa). Much of this reduced yield can be accounted for by the reduced amount of Polars formed at high pressure. 1.67 x 10/sup -2/ K/s, 6.67 x 10/sup -2/ K/s and 8.33 x 10/sup -2/ K/s heating rates have been employed in the experimental work. It was noticed that a higher rate caused a delay in the appearance of the oil. Finally, a simplified kinetic scheme which includes the distribution of liquid products and pressure effects has been proposed. The activation energies and frequency factors of generation reactions for total oil and individual components have been obtained by applying both isothermal and nonisothermal techniques.

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Quantitative determination of carboxylic acids and their salts and anhydrides in asphalts by selective chemical reactions and differential infrared spectrometry

A method for determining the concentration of carboxylic acids and anhydrides in asphalts and asphalt fractions has been developed. In addition, carboxylate salts are determined independently from the free acids. The method is based on the selective interaction of triphenyltin hydroxide with free carboxylic acids, the hydrolysis of acids and anhydrides with sodium hydroxide, and the silylation of free acids and their salts. Differential spectra are used to make the quantitative determinations.

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The development of in situ processes for energy and fuels from coals

This study describes the ERDA's program to develop in situ coal conversion processes, especially gasification. The potential of this technology, the technical directions being explored, and the program strategy to carry the process concepts toward commercialization are emphasized. The geographic location of the U.S. coal resources and a market analysis are described. Commercially successful in situ coal processes could add over one trillion tons of coal to the U.S. coal reserves. Unique factors of the process development are discussed which may lead to commercial processes in the near term. A development strategy is proposed by which this technology could be commercialized before 1985 with potentially lower gas prices and lower environmental impacts, relative to mining plus surface gasification.

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Investigation of factors affecting asphalt pavement recycling and asphalt compatibility

Both economic and environmental factors dictate that asphalt pavement be recycled. Many recycling projects have been completed using a variety of recycling additives, but little work has been done on the physiochemical aspects of pavement recycling. The present exploratory study was undertaken to better define the physiochemical variables of recycling. Objectives of the present study include: (1) to determine if molecular structuring in the asphalt binder could be observed in oxidized (air-aged) asphalt-aggregate briquets, and if so, how was structuring affected during briquits, and if so, how was structuring affected during briquet recycling and (2) to determine if recycling agents penetrate the strongly adsorbed asphalt layer on the aggregate surface. Differences were seen in asphalt component compatibility as judged by the state of peptization parameters. In extreme cases the values of the parameters correlated with properties of asphalts of known compatibility; however, a relationship between the parameters determined on a series of asphalts in pavements was not established. The parameters might be useful in evaluating additives for pavement recycling; however, more systems need to be studied to fully assess their potential usefulness. Finally, the parameters need to be correlated with performance-related measurements such as asphalt rheological and mix properties. Examination of the parameters and their changes on asphalt oxidative aging may also be informative with regard to asphalt durability inasmuch as oxidation-induced changes are a major cause of asphalt pavement failure.

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Modeling oil plugging and flow nonuniformities in oil shale retorts

Technical approaches are discussed concerning the modeling of two factors that appear to control the recovery of oil in retorts from oil shales having an extremely wide range of particle sizes: oil plugging, i.e., oil mist filtration and clogging of unretorted oil shale and the general aspects of flow nonuniformities. Research is reported devoted to gaining an understanding of the effects of fluid mechanics on the oil shale retorting process and developing sub-models for oil plugging flow nonuniformities and dispersion. The sub-model for oil plugging is used to generate a supplementary set of differential equations and incorporate them into the overall retort model. These equations account for the holdup of liquid oil and its possible coking with subsequent loss in yield. The flow non-uniformity and dispersion sub-models are used to interpret laboratory and field tracer studies to indicate possible flow nonuniformities. It is proposed that these procedures will produce tools which should be useful in interpreting laboratory and field tracer studies. These tools can also be used to perform sensitivity studies. (JRD)

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Uncovering and evaluation of a twenty-five-year-old underground-coal-gasification burn at a site in Gorgas, Alabama

During the late forties and into the fifties, the US Bureau of Mines (USBM) and the Alabama Power Company conducted a series of underground coal gasification burns in the Pratt and America coal beds at Gorgas, Alabama. Following the first burn, by the so called stream method, it was feasible to enter the burned out areas by deep mining and assess what had taken place during the operation of the test site. In the latter tests, however, it was not economically feasible to explore the burned out areas except by means of core drilling. Now, in early 1981, surface mining is being done in the vicinity of the first hydraulic fracture area. I had been there during the active operation of the burns and agreed to go to Gorgas, evaluate the exposed area, collect samples, take photographs, and provide this written report. I spent several days taking photographs and making observations at the exposed burn site, taking samples, and discussing the best ways to coordinate future exposures with the coal mining process. The uncovered burn area at the site of the first hydraulic fracture can be described as a flat, roughly circular shaped area, varying in thickness from about 1 foot to 2 feet high and covered with a mixture of the various materials removed in the mining operation, i.e., broken bits of coal, rock, clay, etc. However it rained the night before the observation and during the entire evaluation period making it extremely difficult to determine whether fine gray colored materials were clay or residual ash.

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Diffusion of oxygen to the reaction surface of a cylindrical coal channel

The problem of the diffusion of the oxidizing agent to the reaction walls of a channel is of major theoretical and practical interest for the combustion and gasification of coal. This problem has been treated previously. In this study, approximate formulas for calculating the amount of oxidizing agent reaching the reaction surface of a cylindrical coal channel and the distribution of the oxygen concentration within the channel are given. The formulas are convenient for analyzing the influence of certain factors on underground gasification of coal in a channel.

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Experiments in numerical methods for a problem in combustion modeling

In this report, we have shown that the numerical method of lines can be used effectively to solve time-dependent combustion models in one spatial dimension. By the numerical method of lines (NMOL), we mean the reduction of a system of partial differential equations to a system of ordinary differential equations (ODE's), followed by the solution of this ODE system with an appropriate ODE solver. We used finite differences for the spatial discretization and a variat of the GEAR package for the ODE's. We have presented various solution methods of interest for the nonlinear algebraic system in this setting; that is, in the corrector iteration section of the GEAR package applied to combustion models. These methods include Newton/block SOR (SOR denotes successive over-relaxation), block SOR/Newton, Newton/block-diagonal Jacobian, Newton/kinetics-only Jacobian, and Newton/block symmetric SOR. These methods have in common their lack of frequent use in ODE software and their ready applicability to partial differential equations in more than one spatial dimension. Finally, we have given the resutls of numerical tests, run on the CDC-7600 and Cray-1 computers. By so doing, we indicate the more promising nonlinear system solvers for the NMOL solutionof combustion models. Specifically, our purposes are to: demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the numerical method of lines, in comparison with a splitting scheme,for a one-dimensional combustion model; discuss various approaches to the problem of solving the algebraic systems that arise from implicit methods; and show that the numerical methods described here are applicable to multidimensional problems and ot other transport models.

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Composition and distribution of classes and types of organic compounds in petroleum heavy ends

Results of the American Petroleum Institute Research Project 60 and more recent characterization on petroleum residues are discussed. Emphasized are compositional changes which are observed with increasing temperature. The distribution of phenols, carboxylic acids, amides, pyrroles, alkanes, and aromatics in the high boiling distillates and residues from 4 crude oils are discussed. These materials have been divided into 3 boiling point ranges: 370 to 535/sup 0/C; 535 to 675/sup 0/C; and residues that do not distill > 675 C. With the exception of alkanes, amounts of the other classes of compounds already listed generally increase with distillation temperature. Compound types within the classes vary in amount within the boiling ranges. Average mol wt of distillate fractions increases gradually with temperature, and suddenly increases rapidly in the residue fraction. The mol wt of the largest residue moelcules varies for the individual oils. The heteroatom content of separate molecules within the Wilmington oil increases gradually within the boiling ranges until the heteroatom content/molecule of molecules in the 675/sup 0/C residue is approx. double that of molecules in the 370 to 535/sup 0/C distillate. 2 figures, 6 tables.

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Oxidation of sulfur compounds in petroleum residues:  reactivity-structural relationships

Studies have been made on the reactivity of sulfur entities in oxidized asphalts and oxidized petroleum distillation residues during air oxidation. Asphalts are referred to as residues. The oxidation of these materials includes the rapid formation of an unsymmetrical ir band at ca 1030/cm. Sulfoxides are not normally found in unoxidized petroleum residues, but develop rapidly during air aging. Their presence in these residues has been inferred from their specific bands in ir spectra. Confirmation of sulfoxides was obtained from deoxygenation with chlorocarbenes and decomposition with bromine and peracetic acid. Hydroperoxides in amounts that might interfere with sulfoxide determination were not found in oxidated residues. The concentration of sulfoxides formed during air oxidation was found to rapidly reach a maximum value and to remain constant on further oxidation of the residue. Model studies indicate that hydroperoxides play a role in sulfoxide formation. The data show that both alkyl and aryl sulfides were present in aliphatic residues, that predominantly alkyl types were oxidized during oxidative aging in air and that concentrations of the alkyl and aryl types vary with crude source. Peracetic acid oxidation of the residues indicated that most of the sulfur present was in the form of sulfides. 2 figures, 6 tables.

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Activity of the production of energy from tar sands of the United States

Several tar sand recovery projects have been proposed by private corporations. Known tar sand deposits the U.S. contain an estimated 24 to 30 billion bbl of oil-in-place. Nearly 90% of this resource is in Utah and is contained in 6 giant deposits large enough to support relatively large production projects at current or foreseeable cruce oil price levels. However, the necessary oil production technology is presently only in the experimental stage. Early commercial tar sand oil production efforts will probably consist of mining-plant extraction processes in the minor portion of the known resource with thin over-burden. The major portion of the resource will require the application of yet-to-be-proven in situ technology. (15 refs.)

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In situ coal gasification modeling

In situ coal gasification may prove to be an important new technology for converting the nation's coal reserves into a clean, economical energy source. However, before the process can become a commercial reality, reliable process controls for attaining efficient, high volume resource recovery must be developed. Process modeling may aid in this development effort but only if the model incorporates the basic physical mechanisms controlling the in situ gasification process. Unfortunately, these mechanisms are not known or fully understood. In order to better understand the process, a two dimensional coal recovery model has been developed which incorporates several candidate mechanisms believed to control in situ gasification. The model is tested against field gasification results from Hoe Creek and Hanna, Wyoming. Both experiments have demonstrated wide sweep efficiency. However, analysis of results based on overall material balances indicate possible large differences in the net amount of unreacted char left underground. The mathematical model can predict wide sweep efficiency for both sites. However, these predictions require the use of a highly dispersive mechanism within the active gasification region. Tracer studies at Hoe Creek tend to confirm the highly dispersive nature of the system. A simple quasi-equilibrium model is presented for calculating gas composition as a function of underground heat loss and water influx. Plans for incorporating this model in the two dimensional coal recovery model are presented.

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Thermoelastic solutions for in situ gasification of coal. [Ph. D. Thesis; 102 references]

Linear thermoelastic analyses of structural models associated with underground coal gasification (UCG) are conducted in this dissertation. Idealized crack and cavity configurations simulating the Longwall Generator concept and linked vertical wells concept of UCG are studied by deriving closed form solutions. The relevance of the proposed models and their general applications are provided. Four different isotropic, homogeneous thermoelastic models with steady-state heat conduction and prescribed constant temperature boundary conditions at the crack or cavity surface are investigated. Despite the numerous limitations inherent in the development of the analytical structural models studied here, the results provide fundamental data for the possible interpretation of cavity configurations, roof stability and related information. This research also demonstrates that the thermomechanical responses are important in the consideration of UCG processes.

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