AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Report on preliminary results of aerosol measurements at the Rio Blanco oil-shale retort, Burn No. 1

Solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the treated and untreated off-gas from the Rio Blanco Retort were sampled during a seven-day period beginning August 3, 1981. The purpose of the work was to characterize the major constituents of the aerosol particles and droplets, to determine their distribution with respect to size, to determine their mutagenic activity, and finally to evaluate the performance of inertial collectors for sampling and sizing liquid droplets suspended in the untreated off-gas. The ultimate objective is to characterize potential air emissions, and to identify possible control needs. In this report, the measurements and samples made and collected in August are summarized, and the mass concentrations, particle-size distributions, and basic gas parameters measured in the field are reported. Results show that both the treated and untreated off-gas streams were totally saturated with water vapor at the two sampling locations. Approximately half of the stack emitted particulate material is in the form of hydroscopic salts, that are probably produced by the flue gas scrubber. Estimates of the total aerosol mass discharge to the atmosphere ranged from 5.4 to 16.2 lbs/h. Six of the 8 values reported were less than or equal to 9 lbs/h, expressed as dry particulate weight. Approximately 70% of the particulate mass emitted to the atmosphere resided in particles of submicrometer aerodynamic diameter. Preliminary mutagenic assays indicate that components of the untreated off-gas aerosol contained as much as 18 times more specific mutagenic activity (No. revertants/mg of material tested) than the product oil. The stack emitted aerosol contained very low levels (about 50 times less than the product oil sample) of direct acting mutagens.

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Oil-shale-mining cost analysis. Volume II. Vertical modified in-situ retorting process. Final report

This report documents the results of a study to adapt mining economic models to enable the estimation of mining cost for Vertical Modified In Situ (VMIS) oil shale scenarios. An Oil Shale Mining Economic Model (OSMEM) was developed and executed for mining scenarios representative of commercially feasible VMIS operations. Four base case VMIS scenarios were evaluated at two sites in the Piceance Creek Basin of Colorado. A VMIS-only and VMIS plus surface retorting recovery scenario were evaluated at each site. Target production was 50 thousand barrels per day for each scenario. Costs developed for each scenario included all capital and operating expenses associated with mining activities. Parametric and sensitivity analyses were performed to determine the sensitivity of mining cost to changes in capital cost, operating cost, return on investment, and cost escalation. The effects of changes in VMIS retort efficiency and gassy mine conditions were also investigated.

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Detection of rubble zones in oil shale by the electrical resistivity technique

Electrical resistivity surveys were conducted at three sites in Wyoming in an attempt to detect underground rubble zones in oil shale and to determine their size and resistivity contrast. The zones were detected at Rock Springs sites 4 and 5, but none were detected at Green River site 1. The resistivity of the rubble zones at sites 4 and 5 is greater than that of the surrounding rock. The zones at sites 4 and 5 are concluded to be roughly ovaloid in shape, with a horizontal diameter of 33 m and a vertical thickness of 24 m. Both rubble zones and the blasting that created them are considered to be centered at a depth of 24 m.

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Investigation of the Geokinetics horizontal in-situ oil-shale-retorting process. Fifth annual report, 1981

The Geokinetics in situ shale oil project is a cooperative venture between Geokinetics and the US Department of Energy. The objective is to develop a true in situ process for recovering shale oil using a fire front moving in a horizontal direction. The project is being conducted at a field site, Kamp Kerogen, located 70 miles south of Vernal, Utah. This fifth annual report covers work completed during the calendar year 1981. During 1981, one full sized retort (Retort No. 26) was blasted and the following three retorts were processed: (1) Retort No. 24 operations were continued until July 23; (2) Retort No. 23 was ignited and processed during the calendar year; (3) Retort No. 25 was ignited and burned for 77 days during 1981.

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Oil shale program twenty-third and twenty-fourth quarterly reports, July 1981-December 1981

The objective has been to acquire the ability to prescribe an efficient process for in situ recovery of a given oil shale resource. The overall efficiency of shale oil recovery processes is determined primarily by a combination sweep efficiency, retorting efficiency and volumetric efficiency. These efficiency components are related to the way in which the retort bed is prepared, the retorting technique employed and the structural characteristics of the mine and in situ retorts. Therefore, the Sandia program addresses these three main areas: bed preparation and characterization; retorting process; and structural stability. For convenience, this report is organized with most of the text under these main headings. However, this separation is somewhat arbitrary and the three areas are not truly independent. The integration of information from the three areas is an integral part of this program.

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Hydrocracking low-temperature tar from North Dakota lignite. [Hydrocracking in single-pass, fixed-bed operation at 3000 psi over Co molybdate catalyst to produce gasoline]

Lignite tar made by low-temperature Lurgi-Spulgas carbonization of North Dakota lignite was hydrocracked in a single pass, fixed bed operation at 3,ooo pounds per square inch over cobalt molybdate catalyst to produce gasoline, and at the same pressure, over zinc chromite catalyst to crack the high boiling phenolic compounds to low boiling phenolics.

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Retorting kinetics for oil shale from fluidized-bed pyrolysis

A quartz isothermal fluidized-bed reactor has been constructed in order to measure kinetics and oil properties relevant to surface processing of oil shale. The rate of volatile hydrocarbon evolution is measured with a flame-ionization detector. Oil yield and composition is determined via subsequent analysis. This work is an extension and expansion of that originally reported by P. H. Wallman and co-workers at Chevron. We are determining gas evolution kinetics, oil yield, and oil composition as a function of both oil shale parameters (e.g., particle size, grade) and fluidized-bed parameters (temperature, sweep gas composition and velocity, bed particle size). Various techniques are evaluated for ;measuring species-selective (as opposed to total hydrocarbon) kinetics; an ultimate goal is the development of diagnostic methods relating oil yield and composition to processing parameters.

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Disposal and environmental effects of carbonaceous solid wastes from commercial oil shale operations. Annual report No. 1. [Research programs]

Part 1 of the report is concerned with the general background and problems relating to the various parts of the projected research program, and includes summaries of some aspects of the physiography, geology, constitution of oil shale and technology of retorting. Part 2 deals specifically and in greater detail with the NSF(RANN) research program and its various aspects, the methods of approach applied, and problems encountered. Part 3 discusses the experimental data obtained to date and the preliminary conclusions reached. Part 4 represents a summary statement of the objectives of the program presently under investigation and some of the projected objectives of an extended research effort. The bibliography presented at the end of the report represents the literature consulted during the reporting period.

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Paraho environmental data. Part IV. Land reclamation and revegetation

Data concerning land reclamation and revegetation cover characteristics of environment and ecosystems at Anvil Points, reclamation of retorted shale, revegetation of retorted shale, and ecological effects of retorted shale. Data found in another section of the Paraho Environmental Data are not reproduced here. Contents of this report are: introduction; background; land reclamation; revegetation; ecological effects; bibliography. (ATT)

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Equity Oil Company BX in situ oil shale project, Piceance Basin, Colorado. Environmental quarter report, March 1-May 31, 1981

This report has been organized into three sections for ease of review. Section A - Air Resources covers data collected by the 100-foot tower between September and December 1980. Section B - Water Resources covers data collected since the last Quarterly Report. Section C - Aquatic Biology covers data collected since January 1981. Laboratory analysis results of all water samples show no significant changes from previous sample have occurred. The alluvial wells did exhibit slightly higher concentrations of phenols. Presently no baseline record exists for these wells to establish the normal levels of phenols in the alluvial ground water. Laboratory analysis of all sampling locations are presented in Appendix B. Aquatic biology covers data collected during the initial two aquatic biology field sampling trips of 1981. Benthic invertebrates, periphyton algae, and a fishery survey was conducted. Stream observations indicate that the stream habitat has remained unchanged since the August 1980 field visit. (ATT)

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Effect of groundwater and pH modification on quality of leachate from simulated in-situ retorted Utah Oil Shale

Major variables reported in this study were retorting temperature, retorting atmosphere (inert, air added, air and CO/sub 2/ added), and groundwater quality (source). All leaching tests were made at atmospheric pressure and most at room temperature. Leaching tests were made with groundwater to observe the ability of spent shale to remove materials from groundwater and the possible ability of those materials to plug the pore structure of the spent shale and to minimize further leaching. The factor having the greatest effect on leachate composition was retort temperature. The presence of CO/sub 2/ during hightemperature retorting suppressed the amounts of baseforming materials generated. All leachates were affected significantly by the groundwater used for leaching. As expected, more material was leached from the retorted Utah shale when the higher-purity groundwater was used. The addition of 2% Wyoming bentonite for the purpose of pH modification to the groundwater used for leaching the retorted shale (780 and 1000/sup 0/C (1,436 and 1,832/sup 0/F) retort atmosphere of air with 15% CO/sub 2/ added) showed that the bentonite had only a small effect on the leaching of monovalent cations and essentially no effect on the movement of the heavy, hazardous cations. The effect of retorting temperature was mixed with the exception of chromium, which increased four- to fivefold in the leachate. The permeability of Utah shale was determined by retorting two cores from Rock 2 at 780/sup 0/C (1,436/sup 0/F) for 48 hours in the presence of air alone. The differences in the final permeability of these cores can be attributed to differences in groundwaters.

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Proceedings of the eighth underground coal conversion symposium

The results of the Rawlins T-2 field test of UG of steeply dipping coal have been used as the basis for an economic analysis of the manufacture of fuel products. In addition, a preliminary comparison has been made of the relative economics of the UG of steeply dipping vs horizontal beds. Finally, the results of this analysis have been related to the economic predicted on site during the field test.

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High-frequency electromagnetic probing at LLNL's large-block coal gasification

The burn-cavity of LLNL’s large block coal gasification experiment near Centralia, Washington was probed by using the High Frequency Electromagnetic (HFEM) technique. Since the burn area was small and the boreholes closely spaced, there was less signal attenuation than previous experiments. Thus, higher frequencies were used for better resolution. Also, sufficient data was taken to use image reconstruction algorithms to produce a tomography of the burn-cavity. Since the large block will be excavated, this experiment provides an excellent opportunity to compare the results of HFEM probing to the actual burn cavity.

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Proceedings of the third annual underground coal conversion symposium

Although no field tests have been conducted by the Laramie Energy Research Center since the Second Annual Underground Coal Gasification Symposium, additional analyses of data from the Hanna II test have been completed. These analyses consist of energy balances, thermal efficiencies, and process efficiencies for all phases of Hanna II. In addition, preparation for the Hanna III and IV tests is in progress and preliminary planning for Hanna V has been completed. Simulation of in situ coal gasification on a laboratory scale is also being pursued. This paper will discuss the additional analyses of the Hanna II test, describe the Hanna III, IV and V tests, and outline the objectives of the laboratory simulation experiments.

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Proceedings of second annual underground coal gasification symposium

An important consideration in process development for in situ coal gasification is a means of measuring resource utilization and the location of the active combustion front by remote sensing. Efforts to develop measuring techniques applicable both during and after completion of a test burn have been underway at LERC for the past two years. Existing technology applied to post burn evaluation has consisted of wire line drilling and coring, and conventional reflection seismic surveying. Research is underway to evaluate shear wave seismic surveying, high resolution shallow reflection seismic surveying, magnetic surveys to detect changes in iron minerals in the overburden as they are heated, and seam wave seismic surveys as means of real time evaluation for process monitoring and control.

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Sixth underground coal-conversion symposium

Results from adiabatic in situ coal gasification tube studies in the forward mode are presented. The reactor and the laboratory configuration are described. Combustion front channeling and the problems of operating the system adiabatically are discussed. Representative gasification data are given and several runs are analyzed for peak combustion temperature, combustion and devolatilization front velocities and production gas flow rate, composition, and heating value. All results are made viable through completion of material and energy balances on the system and radial conductive heat losses are determined. The laboratory results are correlated with the Hanna field tests and with a one dimensional in situ coal gasification numerical model.

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Development of combined nitrogen oxide/sulfur oxide environmental-control technology

Using a statistically designed series of batch experiments, we investigated simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification of flue gas from coal-fired boilers. Our results were consistent with mechanisms in which NO (nitrogen monoxide) and NO/sub 2/ (nitrogen dioxide) are coscrubbed as HNO/sub 2/ (nitrous acid), which reacts with SO/sub 2/ (sulfur dioxide) as (HSO/sub 3//sup -/) (the bisulfite ion) to form hydroxylamine-N-sulfonates. Significant pathways for aqueous-phase denitrification were available at pH values between 4 and 9, with an optimum at a pH value of 6.9. This report shows how these mechanisms operated in a variety of scrubber technologies, so that successful control strategies can be developed. Four desulfurization chemistries were ranked in terms of their denitrification potential, in the following order: double-alkali > lime > citrate > Dowa. A synthetic flue gas containing nitrogen blended with carbon dioxide (14.5%), oxygen (5.1%), SO/sub 2/ (1500 or 3000 ppM), NO (475 or 450 ppM), NO/sub 2/ (25 or 50 ppM), and water vapor (8%) was fed at 100 L/min (standard) to a 3.6-L batch sparger. Additives investigated included FeSO/sub 4/ (ferrous sulfate), Fe(II)EDTA, Cu(II)EDTA, Fe(II)NTA, Fe(OH)/sub 2/ (ferrous hydroxide), NH/sub 4/OH (ammonium hydroxide), and N/sub 2/H/sub 4/ (hydrazine), where EDTA signifies ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and NTA signifies nitrilotriacetic acid. Of these additives, Fe(II)EDTA performed best as an enhancer of NO/sub x/ (nitrogen oxides) removal.

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Instrumentation and data system for the 1983 Partial-Seam CRIP experiment

"The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Partial-Seam Controlled Retracting Injection Point (CRIP) experiment was carried out near Centralia, Washington, in the summer and fall of 1983. The Laboratory’s Electronics Engineering Department designed the instrumentation and data acquisition systems to measure all burn control and process parameters, both surface and subsurface.  The principal subsurface diagnostic instrument was the type-K grounded, sheathed thermocouple arranged in linear arrays, or strings, and emplaced in vertical wells near the crossover of the horizontal injection and production wells. A secondary diagnostic instrument was a time domain reflectometer (TDR) using coaxial cables, which was installed in some of the instrument wells along with the thermocouple arrays. The primary function of both the thermocouple arrays and the TDRs was to characterize the dimensions, position, and movement of the underground burn cavity.  Temperature and pressure transducers were emplaced at the injection and production well heads to measure control and process parameters. A flexible data acquisition system was developed that: (1) provided real-time display, (2) permitted easy channel assignments and calibrations, and (3) handled a wide variety of transducers. The instrumentation and data acquisition systems performed very well during the experiment with essentially no loss of data."

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Thermal effects in overlying sedimentary rock from in-situ combustion of a coal seam

This investigation sought to determine the times at which significant differences in temperature would occur at varying depths in overlying sedimentary rock, in response to combustion of a coal seam. Both numerical and analytical methods were employed to predict the temperature distribution within the overburden at various times. Special attention was given to calculation of the time for a 2 degree C rise to be observed at the surface of the earth on the basis of heat conduction alone, which may be important for interpretation of airborne thermal infrared surveys. The results of the computations for conduction models of progressive heating and instantaneous inform heating indicate that it would be 5 to 8 years before the temperature would rise significantly (i.e., ~2 degrees C) at the surface above a ~60m-deep burning coal seam.

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Isothermal pyrolysis of Hanna Coal

Isothermal pyrolysis experiments have been performed in the temperature range 375 degrees – 425 degrees C on a subbituminous coal from the Hanna No. 1 seam. The experiments were conducted on 20-g samples, using a fluidized sand bath reactor system with a heat-up time of approximately 2 minutes to achieve > 97% of the isothermal temperature. Condensable products were collected at dry-ice temperature, and noncondensible gases were analyzed using an on-line gas chromatograph. This product collection system allowed for kinetic analyses to be made on specific gaseous components, as well as for oil evolution. The hydrocarbon gas production was fit to a second-order model for the first 50 minutes and to a first order model for times in the range 80-150 minutes. The oil evolution was found to be first order over the range of oil production. Activation energies for hydrocarbon gas evolution were found to be between 28-40 kcal/mole, while for the oil evolution, the activation energy was found to be about 50 kcal/mole. Evolution of CO and CO2 was too rapid to obtain kinetic data for the generation of these species.

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Sodium bicarbonate (nahcolite) from Colorado oil shale. [Occurrence as concretions up to 5 ft in diameter and as layers up to 4 in. thick; 2 analyses]

Sodium bicarbonate was found in the high grade oil shale core of the Parachute Creek member of the Eocene Green River formation in the underground development openings of the Bureau of Mines Oil Shale Demonstration Mine at Anvil Points, 10 miles west of Rifle, Colorado. It occurs as concretions varying up to five feet in diameter and as layers up to four inches thick, intercalated between rich oil shale beds. It is suggested that the concretions were formed which the ooze, which had been deposited in the bottom of the former Uinta Lake, was still soft and plastic.

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Shale-oil naphthas. Analysis of small samples by the silica gel adsorption method

A method for the analysis of small samples of shale oil naphthas is based upon the selective adsorption of the various classes of compounds by silica gel. Data are presented on adsorbability of various classes of hydrocarbons, sulfur compounds, and nitrogen compounds. For best results, the tar acids and bases should be removed before analysis by this method.

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Method of assaying oil shale by a modified Fischer retort

"One of the initial projects under the oil-shale research and development phase of the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act, Public Law 290, 78 Congress, approved April 5, 1944, was a survey of oil shales of the United States for the selection of a site for an oil shale-demonstration plant. The oil shales were assayed by the conventional Bureau of Mines retort method proposed by Karrick and described by Boyd Guthrie in a more recent publication. From previous experience and that had in making these assays, it became evident that the assay method should be modified or replaced by a more satisfactory one. There are several outstanding objections to the Bureau of Mines oil shale assay method: (1) The oil yield., frequently are smaller than those  obtained by other types of assay equipment and by commercial retorts; (2) the assayed-oil yield represents only a portion of the organic matter in the shale, which under more favorable conditions may be converted more  completely  into oil, (3) , the retorting procedure is controlled mainly by trial and error methods; and (4)  the assay process takes approximately 6 hours for completion."

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Mineralogy of the Mahogany marker tuff of the Green River Formation, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado

The Mahogany marker tuff is a chronostratigraphic marker which was deposited in Eocene Lake Uinta approximately 45-46 million years ago when the lake was at its maximum size. The Mahogany marker lies 3 to 6 meters above the Mahogany oil shale bed in the upper part of the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation. The mineralogy of the marker was studied in drill cores by X-ray diffraction and hand specimen examination. The Mahogany marker consists of authigenic sodium feldspar, analcime, quartz, ankerite, dolomite, potassium, feldspar, calcite with lesser amounts of siderite, hematite, pyrite, undifferentiated clays, pyrrhotite, biotite, marcasite, and locally dawsonite. Analcime is not present in all samples and in samples which are analcime-free, K-feldspar shows a greater abundance. Dawsonite is locally present only in analcime-free samples. The presence or absence of analcime and K-feldspar is attributed to the geochemical conditions that existed in the lake at the time of deposition of the Mahogany marker. The evidence supports a stratified lake model of oil shale deposition, with extremely alkaline pH values existing in deeper central portions of Lake Uinta.

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