AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
rf heating of Utah tar sands. Final report, October 1978-December 1979

The rf process recovers oil from tar sands in two steps: the deposit is first volumetrically heated with radio frequency (rf) energy to lower the viscosity of the bitumen; the bitumen is then retrieved by one of several petroleum recovery methods. The rf heating is accomplished by inserting tubular electrodes into boreholes and energizing them with an rf power source. The electrical properties of Utah tar sands were found to behave as those of heterogeneous dielectrics, with parameters varying with moisture content. Electrical breakdown thresholds proved to be in excess of 10/sup 5/ V/m - order of magnitude above expected operating levels. Although the electrical parameters varied with temperature during heating, they behaved well enough to make possible efficient matching of power into the deposit. Analytical and experimental studies - including rf heating of 150 to 230 kg blocks of tar sand or loose clay - demonstrated that nearly uniform heating is possible. Laboratory tests on samples as large as 250 kg demonstrated that under ideal conditions up to 85% of the bitumen could be recovered by fluid replacement (tertiary) recovery methods. Based on computer simulation, very high recovery rates could be realized by gravity drive in combination with the electrodes which also serve as production wells. According to analytical studies, the process produces four to ten times more energy than it consumes. The actual value depends on the richness of the deposit, the characteristics of the oil and the rock, and the overall recovery. Costs were assessed for an rf site development plan to produce 10/sup 4/ bbl/day from a medium rich 20m thick, 150m deep Utah tar sand deposit. Total costs were assessed, exclusive of prerefining, to be in the order of 5.50 $/bbl for a 70% recovery.

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Oil shale project run summary, small retort runs S-21 and S-23

The objective of Runs S-21 and S-23 was to assess the technical feasibility of using oxygen diluted, respectively, with steam or carbon dioxide as the injection gas for MIS oil shale retorting. The motivation for using oxygen rather than air is the production of a much higher value offgas. In contrast to the nitrogen diluent present in air, steam and CO/sub 2/ can be removed readily, by condensation or absorption, from the valuable hydrocarbon and hydrogen species in the offgas. Furthermore, steam enhances hydrogen production and, coupled with the steam condensation, could result in offgas hydrogen concentrations sufficient to warrant recovery of hydrogen for hydrotreating the product oil. Carbon dioxide is expected to be not only a major product from MIS retorting but could also be available in concentrated form by absorptive separation from the retort effluent. Residual gas from such absorption, rich in carbon monoxide, could be used for hydrogen production in a separate unit. It is concluded that oxygen, diluted about 9/1 (v/v) with either steam or CO/sub 2/, appears to be technically feasible as an injection gas for MIS retorting. At this concentration and at the flux tested (0.07 m/sup 3//m/sup 2/ min O/sub 2/), both operations proceeded smoothly with acceptable maximum temperature. Retorting rates were comparable - about 2.2 m/day. Offgas lower heating values (LHV) (600 to 700 Btu/SCF), on a CO/sub 2/-and H/sub 2/S free basis, are much higher than those obtained with air as injection gas. As an example, the offgas from Run S-13 (equimolar steam/air; similar O/sub 2/ flux and shale), on the same basis, contained about 84 v% nitrogen and had an LHV of about 91 Btu/SCF. No significance is attached to the difference in oil yield between S-21 and S-23 in view of the difficulty in S-21 of separating product oil from the large volume of coproduct water.

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Hydrogasification of oil shale. Final report Jan 72-Dec 79

The goal of this study was to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of producing synthetic pipeline gas from oil shale using the HYTORT Process. The technical and economic feasibility of the process was shown in laboratory-scale, bench-scale, and PDU-scale (1-ton/hr process development unit) equipment in tests with both Eastern and Western U.S. shales. With Western shales, 95% or more of the organic carbon could be converted to useful products, and with Eastern shales organic carbon conversions up to 90% were achieved. In addition to showing the overall technical and economic feasibility of the process, this study showed the technical and economic feasibility of a novel, patented method for feeding shale to and from high-pressure reactors. Based on the results obtained, it now appears that the Eastern U.S. shale resource (largely neglected in the past because of the low yield by the conventional Fischer Assay method) is now economically recoverable.

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Organic-rich shale of the United States and world land areas

This review of organic-rich shale deposits was conducted to estimate the energy and oil potential of these resources. The shale oil resources of the known deposits and their possible extensions are estimated in grade categories of units that yield more than 25 gallons per ton and units that yield 10--25 gallons per ton. Oil-shale and other organic-rich shale deposits are widely distributed in unmetamorphosed sedimentary rocks ranging from Cambrian to Tertiary. The major world deposits were formed in large marine embayments or basins and in large lake basins. Estimated world production from about 1850 to 1961 totaled about 400 million barrels. The deposits in U.S. are estimated to contain 72 trillion tons of organic matter. An inventory of known oil-shale resources of the United States includes 80 billion barrels of oil equivalent in parts of higher grade accessible recoverable deposits. About 2.1 trillion barrels of oil equivalent are in known lower grade or less accessible oil-shale deposits. Organic-rich shale deposits of the world land areas contain 900 trillion tons of organic matter, which has an energy potential of about 24,000 Q on more than 2 quadrillion barrels of oil. An inventory of the known world shale oil resources includes 190 billion barrels oil equivalent (recoverable) and more than 3.1 trillion barrels in place in marginal and submarginal oil-shale deposits. Possible extensions of known oil-shale deposits contain 10.6 trillion barrels oil equivalent; undiscovered and unappraised organic-rich shale deposits that can be made to yield oil in amounts greater than 10 gallons per ton, contain 325 trillion barrels oil equivalent.

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BX In Situ Oil Shale Project:  design and objectives

In the central portion of the Piceance Creek Basin of nw. Colorado, there is a section of oil shale bearing rocks in the Parachute Creek member of the Green River Formation commonly referred to as the leached zone which contains very large reserves of oil in place as oil shale. This section or leached zone has enough permeability and porosity to permit in situ retorting of the oil shale contained therein without resorting to mining and/or other fracturing techniques to create permeability and porosity prior to retorting. The purpose of the BX In Situ Shale Project is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of using superheated steam at 1000 F and 1500 psig as a heat carrying medium to retort in situ oil shale of the leached zone, and provide a mechanism for the recovery of this oil with a minimum impact on the environment. The BX In Situ Oil Shale Project will be operated for a period of approximately 2 years. During that time some 1 x 10/sup 12/ Btu of heat will be injected into the leached zone as superheated steam. If successful in terms of the project goals of injection, retorting and oil recovery, the way will be open to develop a very significant portion of the oil shale of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Creek Basin of nw. Colorado which otherwise may not be recoverable.

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Potential for in situ retorting of oil shale in the Piceance Creek Basin of Northwestern Colorado. [Projected economics of in-situ process using hot natural gas]

The development of alternatives to production of shale oil by the conventional mining/retorting approach has been a focus for considerable research by industry and government for a number of years. One of these, namely the production of oil from oil shale "in situ" or in place, offers many attractive features. The potential benefits to be derived from the commercialization of an in situ process are both economic and aesthetic. The most significant of these is the absence of the costly and unavoidably disfiguring mining and waste disposal functions associated with a mining/retorting operation. Other potential benefits include: lower research and development costs; lower capital cost of the initial operation; the use of conventional oil field equipment; and lower labor cost per unit of production.

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Oil shale in situ research and development. Quarterly report No. 1, August 1--October 31, 1977

"In Accordance with the requirements of our Contract #EF-77-C-03-1723, our quarterly report for the period August 1, 1977 to October 31, 1977 follows: As of this reporting period we have executed our lease agreement  with Rocky Mountain Energy Company and surveyed the property as described in Figure 1. The Environmental Research Plan included in this report by reference has been approved and is being implemented. A  Preoperational Environmental Impact Assessment has been completed and will be submitted for approval within  one week. Details are presented later in this report.  Our subcontract with Systems, Science and Software has been approved and effort under that contract initiated. We have not received approval of our subcontract with Science Applications, Inc.  We have permanently moved two of our key employees to location at Rock Springs. We anticipate permanently relocating two more employees within the next quarter. Our mobile field office is in the process of being situated on site. We are awaiting Bureau of Land Management approval for electrical power  installation to our site which also paces installation of telephones. A mobile phone is being installed to facilitate communications. A road has been cut providing access to Section 17 and a concrete pad cast for the foundation of our warehouse which will be erected upon rezoning approval tentatively expected November 18, 1977.  Application has been made to the Department of Environmental Quality for installation of septic tank facilities on site which should be approved no later than November 30 .. 1977."

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Analysis of the operation of Occidental's Modified In-Situ Retort 6

The operation of Occidental's Vertical Modified In-Situ Retort 6 is analyzed using data provided as part of the Phase I cooperative agreement with DOE. The analysis is divided into four parts. The first part evaluates the fluid flow through the rubble pile based on preburn tracer tests. These results are presented as a set of velocity contour plots showing the gas velocity distribution across the bed at given depths into the rubble pile. These velocity profiles are used to give a semi-quantitative picture of the porosity and permeability distribution through the bed. Part two of the analysis uses a thermocouple data taken during the burn to (a) present a physical picture of the motion of the retort front through the rubble bed, and (b) estimate the degree of oil coking based on heating rates. The third part of the Retort 6 analysis uses the offgas data taken during the burn to estimate the quantity of shale that was processed (i.e., the sweep efficiency) and the retorting rate within the bed. The fourth and final part of the analysis looks in detail at the major oil loss mechanisms that occurred during retorting. By examining the chemistry of the product oil from Retort 6 we are able to estimate the oil yield loss by coking, cracking, and combustion. This oil yield information, combined with our sweep efficiency estimates, are then used to predict the total oil recovery. 22 figures, 5 tables.

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Toxicity studies of underground coal gasification and tarsands processes. Progress report, February 1, 1982-January 31, 1983

Process waters were obtained from trial coal gasification experiments at Hanna, Wyoming and Vernal, Utah. Samples were assayed for toxicity using the Ames test and the Paramecium bioassay. Results indicate that both the Paramecium and Ames bioassays show sporadic genotoxic response to the process waters. (DMC)

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Recovery of Navy distillate fuel from reclaimed product. Volume II. Literature review

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). This 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 references and abstracts. This appendix, because of its volume, has been published separately as Volume 2.

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In situ noncombustive microwave processing of oil shale. Final report

A unified analytical examination of the products of microwave oil shale has been completed. A sample of subituminous Colorado coal was also included. Analysis systems have been planned, constructed and placed into operation so as to provide a definitive profile of the composition of gases, oil, and water released by the microwave heated oil shale and coal samples. In a previous NSF study, it was reported that microwave retorted oil shale produced large quantities of high BTU content gas. In the data presented in this report, using a modular microcoulometric analysis system, a definitive profile of the composition of the gases, oil, and water, released by the microwave retorted oil shale and coal show that the previous results are confirmed.

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Oil shales energy source development. Final report

Oil shales represents the United States'second (after coal) most abundant fossil energy source. The Green River deposits in the West and the Devonian deposits in the East/Great Lakes are the principal oil shale deposits. This paper discusses in depth: the technology of recovering shale oil (retorting either above ground or in situ,9688 ); refining of shale oil by hydrotreating and/or cracking; environmental impacts of retorting oil shales; economic analysis of shale oil refinery; and military applications of middle distillates from shale oils. At present the Parachute Creek, Colorado project of the Union Oil Company is the only active commercial scale shale oil project in operation. Union is building a 10,000 barrel per day plant at a cost of $600 million. The plant will be completed by midyear and be in operation by the end of 1983. The Department of Defense is guaranteeing a price of at least $42.50/barrel for the finished product, JP-4 jet fuel and diesel fuel made to military specifications. The overall conclusion that can be reached is that state-of-the-art, commercially practical refining processes are available to produce high quality fuels from shale oil at a cost which should make this resource a highly important part of our energy supply and therefore of our national security.

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Shale oil, water, and the politics of ambiguity

This report examines the public policy problems surrounding the development of shale oil, focusing on the many difficulties associated with shale and water, and the attempts of private and public decisionmakers to deal with those problems. Deposits of shale oil in northwestern Colorado are so enormous that this fuel has the potential to liberate the United State from dependence on foreign sources of energy for many decades. Yet the technical, environmental, economic, and political problems facing the exploitation of this resource are themselves so great that they call into question the very possibility of development. Two themes dominate the discussion. The first and most important is ambiguity. Uncertainty pervades every discussion of shale oil and water, so much so that industry, academic, and political observers are unable to evaluate realistically the possible costs, benefits, and dangers of developing the shale resource. The second theme is complexity. The process of judging the opportunities and dangers of shale and water, and the political maneuvering surrounding this process, are almost endlessly complex. Ambiguity adds to complexity, and vice-versa. The result is that both private and public policymakers treat the subject of shale with extreme caution. Policy advances incrementally when it moves at all. There is also a discussion of some of the political fights surrounding shale policy, to help illustrate the ambiguity and complexity of the process.

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Investigation of the geokinetics horizontal in situ oil shale retorting process. Quarterly report, January, February, March 1981

Retort No. 23 has been heavily instrumented and was ignited on March 16, 1981. A total of 6588 barrels of shale oil have been recovered from Retort No. 24 to date; 6057 barrels of oil were recovered during the quarter, an average of 65 barrels per day. Approximately 4909 barrels of shale oil were shipped by tanker truck to the WESRECO refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah, during the quarter. Drilling of re-entry process and instrumentation wells on Retort No. 25 was completed. A post-burn core sampling program for Retort No. 18 was developed and implemented.

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Processing needs and methodology for contaminated water streams from synfuels processes. [Low-temperature coal gasification, direct coal liquefaction and oil shale retorting processes]

The workshop identifies needs to be met by processing technology for waste waters from coal gasification, coal liquefaction, and oil shale retorting processes. The purpose of the workshop was to assess the characteristics of waters from these processes, water-management alternatives, treatment or other processing goals, opportunities for recycle and reuse, capabilities and needs for analytical methods, capabilities and costs of current technology, and critical environment-control and cost issues. Because of the limited time available, a decision was made to focus considerations upon the condensate waters from direct coal-liquefaction, low-temperature coal-gasification, and oil-shale retorting processes. These are in most respects the most contaminated streams and have large flow volumes. Sections II through VII of this report cover these critical issues, and represent summaries of the workshop discussions. In addition, summary status reports of current work are included in this document. (DMC)

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Sandia Heavy Oil Subprogram. FY 1982 annual report

The Sandia National Laboratories Heavy Oil Subprogram is concerned with the evaluation of the controlled source audiofrequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) technique for surface mapping of thermal fronts associated with enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The activities from October 1, 1981, to September 30, 1982, included scaled laboratory CSAMT experiments, a development of grid electode sensors which were placed in a combustion tube to monitor the changes in electrical properties during a burn, analysis of these data, the development of frontal stability analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) studies, an analysis of a field experiment where the CSAMT technique was used to monitor a fire flood and the development of a steam quality tool. A summary of these activities is given in this report. 40 figures.

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Characterization of porous media properties and leaching capacity of spent oil shales

Porous media properties of spent oil shales have been determined in order to provide fundamental data needed to identify and predict the transport of leachates through surface piles or abandoned modified insitu retorts. Using high pressure mercury porosimetry, pore size distributions were measured. Specific surface areas were measured using both the mercury intrusion technique as well as BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) nitrogen adsorption. Visual and chemical analyses were performed by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Leaching capacities of the various spent shale samples were measured using equilibrium leaching studies to determine Equilibrium Exchange Isotherms. Based on these characterization studies, fundamental modeling concepts have benn established for the transport of leachates through spent oil shales. 13 refs.

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Los Alamos integrated oil shale health and environmental program. Status report II. [1981]

This report summarizes the Los Alamos National Laboratory research activities addressing health and environmental concerns related to the developing US oil shale industry for calendar year 1981. Individual projects are carried out by investigators in several groups within the Laboratory's Life Sciences (LS), Health (H), and Chemistry (CHM) Divisions, with support from the Office of Health and Environmental Research and the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The technical reports included in this document are organized on the basis of materials of concern rather than on Laboratory organizational structure. Site- and technology-specific information is included in those instances where it is important to the understanding of the problem. Certain of the projects address more generic or fundamental questions common to most technologies, but each study, whether generic or applied, fits within the health and environmental concerns stated in the DOE Oil Shale Research Development and Demonstration (RD and D) Plan. Separate abstracts have been prepared for each of the 21 technical reports for inclusion in the Energy Data Base.

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Wastewater treatment in the oil-shale industry

Because of the stringent state and federal standards governing the discharge of wastes into local waters and the limited water supplies in this area, an oil shale industry will probably reuse process effluents to the maximum extent possible and evaporate the residuals. Therefore, discharge of effluents into surface and ground waters may not be necessary. This paper reviews the subject of wastewater treatment for an oil shale industry and identifies key issues and research priorities that must be resolved before a large-scale commercial industry can be developed. It focuses on treatment of the waters unique to an oil shale industry: retort water, gas condensate, and mine water. Each presents a unique set of challenges.

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