AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
Naval Oil Shale Reserves:  conceptual development plan

The plan presented here is, first, to design and build a 20,000 BPD plant. After one year of operation, plant expansion to 50,000 BPD would start. Additional plants would be started every three years until 200,000 BPD production was achieved. This production rate can be sustained by the NOSR 1 resource for over 30 years, using current technology, with additional recoverable potential from lower grade shales as economics or technology improves. The development program is divided into five phases. Phase 0 includes preparing and securing the necessary approvals, competitive selection of one or more technologies for retorting, and detailed engineering design. Phase 1a is construction of the 20,000 BPD production facility, Phase 1b is expansion to 50,000 BPD. Phases 2, 3, and 4 each add an additional 50,000 BPD plant. Costs and revenues, based on the planned schedule and production, and on a $35 per barrel value for the upgraded syncrude are presented. A three-year budget of $3.2 million (in 1982 dollars) is required initially to complete and support the necessary approval packages and to provide the engineering basis for the technology selection. The subsequent 2-1/2 years will require $140 million for permits, technology selection, detailed engineering design, and complete technical, management and procurement plans for Phase 1a, the construction of the 20,000 BPD facility.

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Application of separation techniques to a high-boiling shale-oil distillate. [Use of Florisil, silica gel, distillation techniques, alumina, and Florex]

Modern separation techniques have been used to resolve a gas oil from Colorado shale oil into simpler fractions to facilitate studies of composition. The gas oil was a complex material containing about equal quantities of hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon compounds. Adsorption techniques were the principal tools used, supplemented by vacuum distillation, thernal diffusion, and adduct formation. These techniques were selected to provide maximum resolution and recovery of material and to minimize decomposition. The gas oil was separated into nitrogen, aromatic, olefinic, and saturated concentrates. These were further separated into simpler fractions. Information presented in this paper should be applicable to composition studies in other fields.

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Characterization of nitrogen compound types in hydrotreated Paraho shale oil

Results from the separation and characterization of nitrogen compound types in hydrotreated Paraho shale oil samples were obtained. Two samples of Paraho shale oil were hydrotreated by Chevron Research Company such that one sample contained about 0.05 wt. percent nitrogen and the other sample contained about 0.10 wt. percent nitrogen. A separation method concentrate specific nitrogen compound types was developed. Characterization of the nitrogen types was accomplished by infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, potentiometric titration, and elemental analysis. The distribution of nitrogen compound types in both samples and in the Paraho crude shale oil is compared.

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Mechanisms for groundwater contamination by UCG:  preliminary conclusions from the Hoe Creek study

We have monitored groundwater quality changes in approximately 60 wells constructed near the 3 underground coal gasification (UCG) experiments carried out at our Hoe Creek site in northeastern Wyoming. A broad range of residual gasification products are introduced into the groundwater system as a result of the UCG process. These groundwater contaminants may be of environmental significance if they find their way, in sufficient concentrations, into surface waters or aquifers from which water is extracted for drinking or agricultural purposes. In seeking to identify effective control technologies or mitigation measures, we have found it important to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the formation and dispersal of the contaminants. For example, an important mechanism for the production of organic contaminants may be pyrolysis reactions along the surfaces of cracks through which hot product gases escape from the cavity during gasification. As gasification continues, these pyrolysis products will be distilled further out in the surrounding coal and deposited on the coal surfaces. Other mechanisms that are believed to be important are post-burn pyrolysis as a result of residual cavity heat and the liberation of minerals from the coal by the action of dissolved CO/sub 2/.

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Stratigraphy of the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississipppian of Michigan

A stratigraphic inventory was made of the Devonian-Mississippian black shales of Michigan for their possible future use as a source of oil or gas. Structure, contour and isopach maps were made to scales of 1/1,000,000 and 1/250,000. Lithofacies maps were constructed on the 1/1,000,000 scale. An east-west cross-section of central Michigan is included. A portion of eastern Michigan was mapped at the 1/250,000 scale to show bedrock topography, bedrock cover, and drilling depths to the Antrim. All structure, contour and isopach maps were contoured by computer. The remainder were drawn by hand. The major stratigraphic conclusions are: (1) a minor unconformity is probably present at the top of the Traverse limestone in western Michigan; (2) the Traverse shale has closer affinities to the overlying Antrim than it does to the Traverse limestone; and (3) the Antrim should probably be divided into an upper and lower Antrim with a tongue of Ellsworth shale coming in from the west to divide the Antrim.

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Seismic investigations of Antrim shale fracturing:  vertical seismic profiling field work. [Rubblization]

Through the use of surface to downhole shear- and compressional-wave seismic techniques, the subsurface structure through the Antrim shale was studied in Sanilac County, Michigan. This report summarizes the field work, the field instrumentation and the data collection associated with this work.

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Economics of the dry combustion process for tar sand oil recovery

An economic evaluation of the dry combustion process for tar sand oil recovery is presented. Assumptions concerning economic variables, reservoir characteristics, and process performance are clearly defined and justified. Assuming a level of process performance better than has been achieved to date in field tests, the cost of the recovery process alone was calculated at $25.20/bbl. Most of the process cost (78%) results from purchasing and operating the air compressors. Consequently, a program of applied research to reduce compressor costs could greatly improve the process economics. Most of the remaining process cost (18%) results from well completion. Only 27% of process cost is related to capital expenditures. Thus, the cost is not very sensitive to the assumed rate of return on investment. Cost is highly sensitive to two process parameters: fractional oil recovery and compressed air requirement. Assumed values for both variables are optimistic compared with the current state of technology. Future field tests should concentrate on increasing oil recovery and reducing air requirements. Cost is also highly sensitive to the recovery pattern area. Cost is very sensitive to oil concentration. Sensitivity to other reservoir characteristics, such as pay thickness, was not calculated because their effect on process performance is not well understood. Research toward understanding these phenomena would help clarify the economics of dry combustion. When taxes, royalties, and exploration costs are included, the calculated crude oil price is $39.05/bbl.

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Fugitive dust at the Paraho oil shale demonstration retort and mine. Final report, Aug-Nov 1977

A fugitive dust sampling program was conducted at Anvil Points, Colorado, site of the Paraho mining and oil shale retorting operations. High-volume samplers were used extensively for fugitive dust collection, and 175 total suspended particulate calculations are reported for measurements made at the mine adits, the haul road, raw shale crushing area, and the spent shale transfer area. Supporting meteorological data is also given as well as background dust measurements. Particulate size distribution calculations were derived from 36 cascade impactor samples at the above locations. Elemental chemical analysis results are reported for eighteen elements from each of twenty selected high-volume sampler collections. In addition, twenty-six samples were extracted for organic content. The extractions were then fractionated by the EPA/IERL Level 1 method, and eight organic classification fractions are quantitatively given. The significance of these findings is summarized, and recommendations for work are stated.

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High performance liquid chromatographic separation of olefin, saturate, and aromatic hydrocarbons in high-boiling distillates and residues of shale oil

A high performance liquid chromatography method has been developed for the separation of olefin, saturate, and aromatic hydrocarbons found in high-boiling distillates and residues of shale oil and in whole shale oils. The dual-column chromatographic system uses silica gel in one column and silica gel coated with silver nitrate in a second column. Separated fractions are analyzed by infrared and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry to demonstrate the validity of the separation. The time required for a separation is about 2 h. The separations are repeatable, and recovery of material after separation is generally better than 80%. The olefin, saturate, and aromatic fractions obtained from a separation are suitable for further analysis.

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Preliminary examination of waste waters produced during an in situ retorting of tar sands

A study of retort waters produced during an in situ reverse burn of a tar sand deposit near Vernal, Utah is presented. Analysis of the organic constituents by standard methods as well as spark source mass spectroscopy showed ammonium, sulfate, and chloride to be the predominant ions. Organic material isolated from the produced water ranged from 16 to 25 grams per liter. The major organic components were identified by means of combined gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Of these, carboxylic acids, particularly acetic acid, were found to be the most abundant. Phenols and lactones were also identified. The organic and inorganic components identified in the tar sands product water are compared with the corresponding materials found in the product water from the in situ recovery of oil shale. 5 figures, 8 tables.

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Revegetation studies on oil shale related disturbances in Colorado

An interdisciplinary research project was initiated in 1976 to provide both basic and applied information that would aid in the reestablishment of natural functioning ecosystems on land disturbances associated with energy development. The approach included field, laboratory, and greenhouse experiments designed to provide both structural and functional information about disturbed ecological systems in the semiarid west. This report presents results from the sixth year of the study. Separate abstracts have been prepared for each of the 4 studies reported for inclusion in the Energy Data Base. (DMC)

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Producing SNG by hydrogasifying in situ crude shale oil

Crude shale oil produced by underground retorting of Green River Formation oil shale was hydrogasified over a colbaly-molybdate-on-alumina catalyst at operating temperatures ranging from 800 to 1,300 degrees F, pressures of 500, 1,000, and 1,500 psig, and a liquid hourly space velocity of 1.02 volumes of oil per volume of catalyst per hour. At a temperature of 1,300 degrees F and pressure of 1,500 psig, 94 weight-percent of the liquid feed was converted to gas containing 72 volume-percent methane. With two reactors in series at a temperature of 1,170 degrees F in reactor 1 and 1,260 degrees F in reactor 2 and a pressure of 1,500 psig, 97 weight-percent of the liquid feed was converted to gas with a methane content of 75 volume-percent.

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Automated modified Fischer retorts for assaying oil shale and bituminous materials

Automatic control instruments were utilized by the Bureau of Mines for routine assays of large numbers of oil shale samples and other bituminous materials. The standard Fischer assay method was automated by automatically controlling the heating cycles of a battery of 12 electric heaters with electronic controllers and programmers. The condensers were cooled with a modified automatically controlled refridgeration bath. The complete assembly consisted of 12 retort units, necessary control instruments, and the refridgeration bath. This equipment was capable of producing more consistent results than those previously obtained with the gas-heated retorts and of increasing the output of assays substantially with no increase in operating personnel.

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Determination of carbonate minerals of Green River formation oil shales, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado. [Use of cation assignment method]

Carbonate minerals constitute a major fraction of the oil shale in Colorado's Green River Formation.  Quantification of carbonate minerals is important for the characterization of oil shale, particularly because of their thermal activity in production of oil from shale.  The carbonate minerals found in this oil shale are nahcolite (NaHCO3), dawsonite [NaAl(OH)2CO3], dolomite [(Mg1-x Fex)Ca(CO3)2], calcite (CaCO3), and ferroan [(Mg1-x Fex)CO3].  Although carbonate minerals can be removed by acid extraction from the balance of the oil shale, direct determination of carbonate minerals is complicated by the occurrence of the same cations in more than one mineral.  A method for assigning the acid-soluble cations to the individual carbonate minerals was developed from two assumptions based on oil shale geochemistry: (1) Calcite and ferroan do not occur together, and (2) the ratio of iron and magnesium is the same in dolomite and ferroan.  These assumptions were tested by the Bureau of Mines by applying the technique for assigning cations to 219 samples from the saline section of the formation.  The reported carbonate mineral amounts were compared statistically with X-ray diffraction peak heights, verifying the cation assignment method.

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Mining considerations for in situ oil shale development. [Block caving, room-and-pillar, and sublevel caving methods]

Mining considerations inherent in the in situ development of oil shale are examined. Three mining methods are evaluated with regard to their potential for producing a rubble column suitable for retorting. These are: 1) block caving, 2) sublevel room and pillar mining, and 3) sublevel caving. Physical and environmental constraints are also discussed and their impact on a shale oil industry evaluated.

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Structural response of propped fractures in Green River oil shale as it relates to underground retorting

"The structural response of propped oil shale fractures was determined for each of two different grades of Green River oil shales (38.0 and 29.0 gpt) as they were heated in an inert atmosphere from ambient to subretorting temperatures (below those required for rapid pyrolysis of the organic matter). Small oil shale cores were propped apart by 3-mm glass beads to simulate a small cross section of a propped oil shale fracture between an  injection and a producing well. These specimens were then heated at a uniform rate up to 8000 F in a specially designed test cell under stress levels from 100 to 1,000 psi in biaxial and in triaxial confinement. Under the conditions of heat and compression stress utilized in this  study, all of the propped fractures in the two oil shales underwent structural deformation ranging from partial to complete collapse, as evidenced by proppant embedment. Structural collapse of induced fractures would in turn result in serious impairment or complete loss of the fracture flow capacities of the specimens. Results from this Bureau of Mines study indicate that underground  retorting of Green River oil shale may be seriously  impaired by loss of permeability when utilizing propped fractured in oil shales assaying more than 28 gpt."

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Mathematical study of an oil shale retort

This thesis reports the results of a mathematical investigation of the underlying principles that govern the experimental performance of an oil shale retort. Such an investigation naturally separates into 2 principal areas:a study of the kinetics of oil shale pyrolysis and a study of the retorting combustion process. A system of thermal decompositions is presented that provides a description of the mechanism of oil-shale pyrolysis. Specific rate constants for systems of thermal decompositions studied are estimated by a least squares procedure. The estimates thus obtained provide a mathematical model of the corresponding thermal decomposition system. A model that generates a good fit to experimental data, in comparison with other models studied, is based on a thermal decomposition system consisting of 2 first-order reactions and 3 second-order reactions. Values computed for the specific rate constants corresponding to that system are shown to exhibit a temperature dependence that is in good agreement with the Arrhenius equation, over the temperature range of the data used in the study.

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Alkaline permanganate oxidation of oil-shale kerogen

This study was undertaken to obtain information concerning the chemical structure of Colorado oil-shale kerogen (benzene-insoluble organic material).  Such information might serve as a basis for developing better methods of obtaining liquid fuels and allied products from this oil shale.  Controlled alkaline permanganate oxidation was used to obtain less complicated materials for identification or study.  However, exhaustive oxidation for 100 hours produced large yields of carbon dioxide and oxalic acid, 2% nonvolatile acids and 1% nonvolatile nonoxalic acids.  The latter contained no benzenoid acids.  This study shows that Colorado oil shale kerogen does not consist of condensed benzenoid structures and indicates that it may be essentially nonbenzenoid.

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Estimating oil yield of lean oil shale

A simple rapid method is described for estimating the oil yield of lean oil shale by heating a 3-gram sample for 5 minutes at 600 C.  The yield of oil is then estimated by comparison with results obtained by treating oil shale samples of known oil yields in the same manner.  The test requires approximately 1/12 to 1/18 the time for assays by the modified Fischer-retort method and provides a means of detecting lean oil shales which yield insufficient oil to warrant the regular assays.

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Study of preheating Colorado oil shale. [Crushed shale at subretorting temperatures in electric furnace by gases similar to retorting waste gases]

A laboratory study was made to determine whether drying and preheating Colorado oil shale with waste retort gases has any appreciable effect on its oil yield. Samples of crushed oil shale were heated at preretorting temperatures in a specially constructed electric furnace by gases similar in composition to waste gases from oil-shale retorts.  The results of this study showed that preheating oil shale with nitrogen or a reducing mixture had no effect upon the oil or water yield.  However, oxygen in the preheating gas caused a decrease of oil and an increase of water.  In general, the oil yield decreased with (1) increase in oxygen content of the heating gases, (2) increase in temperature of the heating gas, (3) increases in heating time, and (4) decrease in the particle size of the shale.  The decreases in oil and the increase in water resulting from preheating was due to the oxidation of the benzene-soluble organic material (natural bitumen) in the shale.  A small amount of oil was volatilized during preheating, which would constitute and additional loss of proper precautions were not taken to recover it.  The results obtained in this laboratory study indicate that oil shale can be preheated without appreciable decrease in oil yield by proper selection of preheating conditions.

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Heat requirements for retorting oil shale

This study was made to determine the total heat necessary to retort Colorado oil shale to produce shale oil and accompanying by-products under conditions that could exist in commercial practice.  The over-all heat requirements for retorting Colorado oil shale, when measured above 77 F, ranged form 105 B.t.u. per pound at 450 F to 336 B.t.u. per pound at 1100 F. for 28 gallon-per-ton shale and form 261 B.t.u. per pound at 750 F. to 378 B.t.u. per pound at 1100 F.  for 57 gallon shale.  Heat content of spent shale ranged from 94 B.t.u. per pound at 500 F. to 272 B.t.u. per pound at 1100 F. Design of efficient oil shale retorting plants and evaluation of their thermal efficiency require data on the heat needed to retort oil shale.  Since the literature contains but little such data and fails to provide the necessary correlations with retorting temperature and grade of shale, this study was made for the purpose of correcting this deficiency.

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Hydrogenating shale oil and catalytic cracking of hydrogenated stocks. [Effects of N content on catalytic cracking yields; properties of gasoline obtained]

Two Federal Bureau of Mines recycle hydrogenation experiments to prepare catalytic cracking feed stock were made at 3000 pounds pressure with crude shale oil retorted from Green River shale in the gas combustion retort. The hydrogenated product from the first experiment, made at 784 degrees F, was used for investigating the effects of nitrogen content on catalytic cracking yields and for determining the quality of the catalytically cracked gasoline. Hydrogenated products containing 0.14 percent or more of nitrogen produced less gasoline when cracked in a CAT "A" unit than was obtained from East Texas light gas oil cracked at the same conditions; product containing 0.10 percent or less nitrogen produced a quantity of cracked gasoline equal to that obtained from the East Texas light gas oil. The catalytically cracked gasoline had research octane numbers calculated to be approximately 95 clear and 103 with 3 ml of tetraethyl lead. The principal product from the second experiment, made at 828 degrees F, was a low nitrogen content gas oil which was used for investigating the yields of cracked products obtained when it was catalytically cracked to different degrees of conversion. Yields of cracked products, when plotted as function of conversion, were essentially the same, within the experimental range of the data, as published yields from catalytic cracking of East Texas heavy gas oil; however, yields from cracking the shale-oil product did not display the sensitivity to change of cracking temperature that has been found for East Texas gas oil.

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Summary report on large-block experiments in underground coal gasification, Tono Basin, Washington. Volume 1. Experimental description and data analysis

The process of in situ coal gasification is difficult, if not impossible, to observe directly in detail. Full-size field tests, when run to completion, destroy all evidence of the early stages of burn cavity growth, and laboratory size tests are too small to ever get past the very early stages of growth. Hence, we lack a good understanding of how the burn cavity development is affected by the process variables and how this growth affects gas composition and resource recovery.

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