OIL SHALE IN SITU RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (FINAL REPORT, 8/1/77-12/22/79) (INCLUDES APPENDICES A, B AND C)

"In accordance with the requirements of contract No. DE-AC20-79LC01791 Department of Energy, with Talley Energy Systems, Incorporated (TALLEY ENERGY) the final report is included herein. Work began on 1 August 1977 and ended 22 December 1978. Field activity under this contract was devoted to the selection and preparation  of the oil shale project site for the true in situ oil shale retorting experiment, to the hydraulic fracturing, and to the explosive rubblization. The first quarter of the first year saw selection of the site and approval by all cognizant federal, state , and local authorities of TALLEY  ENERGY's Environmental Research Plan. Environmental concerns were addressed during site selection; consideration was given to air, ground, and water contamination and to the impact of the project on flora and fauna of the area. The preparation of the site for the oil shale true in situ retorting experiment then began. A road was cut, storage and office buildings erected, and the  first wells drilled. Drilling accelerated during the second quarter of the first year. Initial planning began for  hydraulic fracturing, explosive rubblization, ,and retorting. This planning included: Prehydraulic-fracture surveys and  evaluations; hydraulic-fracturing procedures; Posthydraulic-fracturing surveys and evaluations; explosive-slurry characterization; explosive detonation sequencing and procedural determinations; and studying coproduced water  treatment, storage, and disposal. The prehydraulic fracturing surveys and evaluations were completed  during the third quarter. This evaluation allowed the hydraulic-fracturing  procedures to be finalized and the hydraulic-fracturing operation to begin. The end of the third quarter saw the successful completion of the first two  hydraulic fractures. The major accomplishment of the first contract year, the successful completion of four, approximately horizontal hydraulic fractures, was completed during the first month of the fourth quarter. Following the hydraulic fracturing operations, extensive posthydraulic-fracturing surveys were conducted. Evaluation of the surveys began near the end of the fourth quarter and allowed the extent of the hydraulic  fractures to be determined. In addition, explosive-loading procedures, detonation-sequencing plans and methods for postrubblization evaluation were finalized near the end of  the fourth quarter in preparation of the explosive rubblization event. The explosive rubblizatian event took place during the first quarter of the second year. Cleanup of the site and of the wells and the postrubblization surveys occupied the rest of this quarter. The second quarter of the second year of the contract saw the completion of the postrublization surveys and writing of this final report. Modeling efforts were carried out continuously during the contract. The major effort concerned itself with a true in situ retort model. Other  modeling efforts included explosive characterization, slurry injection engineering, explosive crack opening prediction, and development of a mathematical rubblization model."

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