AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
In situ recovery of fossil energy resources

The terminology in situ recovery of fossil energy resources as used today, commonly refers to the conversion of a fossil energy resource into liquid and gaseous fuels, in the place in which the resource occurs. Generally, these resources, whether they be oil shale, coal or tar sands are either of low grade or are too inaccessible to be effectively recovered by conventional mining or other recovery techniques. In situ recovery may also be environmentally, economically and occupationally more attractive. Moreover, a significant portion of the nation's energy resources are well suited for in situ development. With the short fall of energy projected for the future, the government, under ERDA has accelerated its program in research and development and demonstration of in situ recovery of fossil energy resources. In particular the Laramie Energy Research Center is engaged in research programs investigating the in situ development of oil shale, coal and tar sands. Ongoing field programs have illustrated the feasibility of utilizing in situ technology to recover these vast resources. These findings are presented along with areas of research which must be addressed before this technology can be advanced to the commercial stage.

Tags: kmd
The Colony shale oil project

The Colony shale oil project will be the first commercial shale oil plant in the US. It is located on the southern rim of the Piceance Creek Basin in Colorado, where half of the resources of the Green River basin lie. The process plant, the mine, the mining cycle, gyratory crushers, six Tosco II retorts, upgrading facilities, are all schematicized. Battlement Mesa, a town for employees, has been built at the base of the valley, where Parachute Creek confluences with the Colorado River. The amenities of Battlement Mesa are described.

Tags: kmd
In situ shale oil production problems. [Proposed Plowshare experiments described]

Much publicity has been given to the nuclear phase of the proposed Plowshare experiment in oil shale. But many people still are unaware that there are two parts to this proproject, the second being a study  of methods for producing oil by in situ combustion of the broken shale after the explosion. This is the more importatnt part and the principal justification fof the whole experiment. However, it is more fifficult to discuss than the nuclear phase, because plans must remain nebulous until resuite of the explosion are known.

Tags: kmd
Electron microprobe studies of Mahogany Zone and Devonian oil shales

Efforts are being directed at characterizing the rock matrices in the oil shales to determine how and where the oil and gas resources are contained. This paper demonstrates the utility of the electron microprobe in characterizing both Western and Devonian shales. The studies have just begun, but do allow some initial comments about similarities and differences between the shales and some speculation about their formation. (DLC)

Tags: kmd
Characterization of Devonian oil shales by hydrogen pulse NMR. Project report for 1983-84

NMR and ESR measurements have been used to characterize eastern and western United States oil shales. T/sub 1/ measurements which were made at 90 MHz as a function of temperature, together with previously reported 36 MHz results, suggest that paramagnetic centers contribute strongly to the relaxation in some of the shales. A careful study of the ESR spectrum at both X-band and K-band frequencies suggests that a part of the spectrum may be due to naturally irradiated silicates in the shales. Laboratory irradiation experiments suggest a method for determining the age of the oil shale deposits. A new technique has been developed for measuring second moments of the NMR power spectrum. Measurements made on a Colorado shale show a rapid decrease with increasing temperature in the vicinity of a previously reported T/sub 1r/ minimum. Unpaired electron spin concentrations and room temperature T/sub 1/ values were measured in 60 oil shale samples from north Alabama and south Tennessee. No correlation between spin concentration and oil Fischer assay was observed except for samples from a 100 ft bore hole in Etowah Co., AL, where a linear correlation was observed. Room temperature T/sub 1/'s were found to approximately increase with increasing spin concentration, supporting the contention that relaxation due to interactions with paramagnetic centers is important. 11 references, 14 figures.

Tags: kmd
Environmental assessment:  DOE/Occidental Oil Shale, Inc. cooperative agreement, Phase II, oil shale retorting, Logan Wash Site, Garfield County, Colorado

The Occidental modified in situ process for producing shale oil is discussed. The environmental impacts of Phase II oil shale retorting are reported. A description of existing conditions of air quality, water quality, and ecology of the Logan Wash Site in Garfield County, Colorado is presented. The potential environmental impacts of the construction phase, operation phase, and post-operation phase are discussed. The aesthetic, recreational, cultural, socio-economic, health, and safety aspects of this project are also covered. (DC)

Tags: kmd
Groundwater quality monitoring of western oil shale development: identification and priority ranking of potential pollution sources

This report presents the development of a preliminary priority ranking of potential pollution sources with respect to groundwater quality and the associated pollutants for oil shale operations such as proposed for Federal Prototype Leases U-a and U-b in Eastern Utah. The methodology used includes description of background information and the proposed oil shale operations as potential pollution sources, characteristics of potential pollutants, area water use, the hydrogeologic framework of the project area, and existing water quality. This information base is then used to evaluate the potential mobility of pollutants in the subsurface through consideration of infiltration, and mobility and attenuation processes in unsaturated and saturated zones. These facts lead to the preliminary priority ranking based on the magnitude of the sources; the toxicity, persistence, etc., of the potential pollutants; the mobility of pollutants in the subsurface; and the potential for harm to water users.

Tags: kmd
Constituent bioconcentration in rainbow trout exposed to a complex chemical mixture

Classically, aquatic contaminant fate models predicting a chemical's bioconcentration factor (BCF) are based upon single-compound derived models, yet such BCF predictions may deviate from observed BCFs when physicochemical interactions or biological responses to complex chemical mixture exposures are not adequately considered in the predictive model. Rainbow trout were exposed to oil-shale retort waters. Such a study was designed to model the potential biological effects precluded by exposure to complex chemical mixtures such as solid waste leachates, agricultural runoff, and industrial process waste waters. Chromatographic analysis of aqueous and nonaqueous liquid-liquid reservoir components yielded differences in mixed extraction solvent HPLC profiles of whole fish exposed for 1 and 3 weeks to the highest dilution of the complex chemical mixture when compared to their corresponding control, yet subsequent whole fish extractions at 6, 9, 12, and 15 weeks into exposure demonstrated no qualitative differences between control and exposed fish. Liver extractions and deproteinized bile samples from exposed fish were qualitatively different than their corresponding controls. These findings support the projected NOEC of 0.0045% dilution, even though the differences in bioconcentration profiles suggest hazard assessment strategies may be useful in evaluating environmental fate processes associated with complex chemical mixtures. 12 references, 4 figures, 2 tables.

Tags: kmd
Safety issues related to synthetic fuels facilities

The design, siting, construction, operation, and decommissioning of coal gasification, coal liquefaction, and oil shale facilities could present safety risks both to synfuels workers and to the environmental system unless careful controls are exercised. Many of these hazards are expected to be similar to those associated with conventional mining, mineral processing, coking operations, and refining of petroleum. However, because of the chemical and physical properties of coal and shale and their products, the types of technologies to be employed, and the scales of their operations, it has been suggested that unconventional hazards may occur. Issues which summarize the deliverations and work of the Committee on Synthetic Fuels Facilities Safety in evaluating the various technologies and their potentials for unconventional safety hazards are described in Chapters 2 and 3 of the report. Suggestions for research and development to further improve the safety and reliability of future synfuels plants (Chapter 4) and the mechanisms that might aid in the generation and gathering of such data (Chapter 5) are presented.

Tags: kmd
The analysis of oil shale wastes: a review. Interim report, April 1979-April 1980

This report summarizes the current status of methods for chemical analysis of oil shale effluents. It focuses on inadequacies in standard methods, adapted to oil shale analyses, particularly addressing needs of chemists, engineers, and biologists attempting to select an analytical scheme suitable for oil shale waste, including: sampling, analysis and quality assurance. Especially for the methods of questionable validity, the literature has been searched extensively so that alternate techniques could be included.

Tags: kmd
Waste management technologies for by-products of sulfur dioxide abatement associated with heavy oil recovery

Most heavy oil produced in the United States comes from reservoirs located in Kern County, California, which covers nearly 21,000 km/sup 2/ (>8000 mi/sup 2/) of land in the southcentral part of the State. Extraction of this heavy oil is accomplished primarily by steam-soak and steam-drive thermal recovery methods. Historically, a portion of the recovered heavy oil is used to fuel the steam generators needed for these procedures. Sulfur dioxide (SO/sub 2/) is a major gaseous emission from the combustion of heavy oil in these steam generators. To meet stringent air quality regulations in Kern County, generators are equipped with flue gas desulfurization systems. However, the sulfur-bearing wastes produced by such systems may become more difficult to manage as heavy oil production increases. We focus on environmental, technical, and economic factors associated with alternative methods of managing liquid and solid wastes derived from the control of SO/sub 2/ produced by the combustion of heavy oil in steam generators and by the combustion of coal in atmospheric fluidized-bed boilers. The primary methods of waste management addressed are surface disposal of liquid and solid wastes, subsurface injection of liquid wastes, and the recovery of usable material such as gypsum and salt cake.

Tags: kmd
Evaluation of tar sand mining:  Volume I. An assessment of resources amenable to mine production. Final report

This report documents results of a study to evaluate tar sand mining. Volume I is concerned primarily with an assessment of tar sand resources amenable to mine production. Tar sand resources in nine states are reviewed and assessed for potential exploitation by three recover methods - surface mining, underground mining, and mine-assisted in situ. An evaluation method is proposed whereby technical, economic, and other nontechnical factors affecting mining could be combined meaningfully to capture collectively an assessment of mineability. Technical considerations affecting mineability by each recovery method are reviewed briefly. Potential environmental and institutional constraints to tar sand development are discussed.

Tags: kmd
Caliper location of leached zones in Colorado oil shale

Accurate estimation of oil yields in Green River Formation oil shale requires knowledge of the presence or absence of cavities (vugs) left after the natural removal of the mineral nahcolite (NaHCOD3U). Conventional well logs have not provided a means for detecting the vugular porous zone. A 3-arm caliper logging system, logging technique, and mathematical correction method used by the U.S. Bureau of Mines to locate and compensate for the vugular porosity are described. The caliper defines the zone by sensing a high frequency of minor diameter variations as small as 1/10 in. Estimations of oil yields and oil-shale reserves from density logs can be significantly improved when the vugular zones's thickness is known. A porosity-density correction method is presented.

Tags: kmd
Mercury mass distribution during laboratory and simulated in-situ oil-shale retorting

When Hg losses to the retort were minimized, 80 to 100% of the Hg originally present in the raw shale partitioned to the untreated offgas. Seven percent or less of the Hg partitioned to the oil. Approximately 2% of the Hg remained in the processed shale which had been heated to 500/sup 0/C in N/sub 2/. Distribution to the water was negligible. Gaseous Hg evolved from the shale as a single pulse over a temperature range of 160 to 320/sup 0/C. The laboratory and simulated in-situ retorting experiments suggest that adsorption of Hg on unretorted or partially retorted shale ultimately controls the movement and final release of Hg to the offgas during MIS retorting. The laboratory experiments also demonstrated that adsorption and condensation losses of gaseous Hg to the retorting system can be substantial. Invoking a number of assumptions it was possible to estimate atmospheric Hg emissions for underground retorting at a MIS oil shale facility producing 8 x 10/sup 6/ liters (50,000 barrels) of oil per day. Hg emissions from a MIS facility could exceed emissions limitations which have been established for other industries. It is possible that retort design parameters and retort operating procedures can be used to control Hg emissions from MIS retorting.

Tags: kmd
Pilot plant study of the engineering aspects of retorting oil shale in a nuclear chimney

In situ retorting of oil shale has promise of economic advantages and appears to be more desirable from an environmental standpoint than other methods of producing shale oil. Fracturing the oil shale prior to processing can be accomplished by conventional techniques including hydraulic fracturing and chemical explosive fracturing. Where the shale is deeply buried, nuclear explosions may be preferable. Because a nuclear chimney is expected to contain oil shale of various grades, including some which is quite lean, the possibilities of retorting lean shale were investigated using the 10-ton retort for this purpose. Ungraded oil shale such as that which might be expected to exist in a nuclear chimney can be completely retorted under conditions which will produce substantial oil yields.

Tags: kmd
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory oil-shale project. Quarterly report, January-March 1982

Two fluidized-bed combustion runs were made on retorted (spent) shale; solids and product gases were measured. The LLNL one-dimensional MIS retorting model has predicted generally accurately the operating conditions and results for the experimental MIS runs. Experiments show that shale oil is retained in rubble beds probably because of its non-Newtonian, plastic-like behavior under final drainage conditions. A survey was conducted of the oil yield variables in a small fluid-bed reactor. Biological markers (isoprenoids, steranes) are being studied for use in retort diagnostics Triple quadrupole mass spectroscopy is being used to determine trace sulfur species in oil shale retort gases. Incipient fluidization velocity and terminal velocity of oil shale particles measured. 14 figures.

Tags: kmd
Incipient fluidization characteristics of crushed oil shale

We have measured the gas velocity for incipient fluidization of crushed shale as a function of particle size, shale grade, crushing method and temperature. This velocity varied as the square of particle size for 0.0063 to 0.1-cm particles and approximately as the square root of particle size for 0.5-cm particles. We observed no regular dependence of this velocity upon shale grade. Slightly higher velocities were found for cone-crushed than for hammer-milled shale particles. For 0.0125 to 0.10-cm paricles we found that raising the temperature to 450/sup 0/C reduced the velocity by 28 percent from 20/sup 0/C measurements. The Zenz-Othmer graph predicts velocities three to five times higher than those observed. The Kunii-Levenspiel correlation predicted velocities 25 to 270 percent higher than observed at 20/sup 0/C but was within experimental error for measurements at 450/sup 0/C.

Tags: kmd
Power recovery from in-situ combustion exhaust gases

A small gas-combustion turbine generator set was tested using in-situ combustion exhaust gases from the crude oil recovery test at Amoco Production Co.'s Sloss Unit. These gases were used to supplement the liquid fuel normally used to operate the turbine. The turbine was loaded by removing compressed air as well as by generating electrical power. Test results indicate that gas-combustion turbines can be used to recover the energy of compression, the sensible heat, and the heat of combustion in exhaust gases. In some cases a gas-combustion turbine-driven compressor can be operated to supply 200 percent of rated capacity of compressed air using these gases.

Tags: kmd
Blasting concept for preparing vertical modified in-situ oil-shale retorts

Boreholes for the explosive charges are drilled vertically above and/or below rectangularly-shaped cavities in an oil shale deposit. The charges are configured and sequentially detonated in decks. Within each deck the charges are in a square pattern. From deck to deck the horizontal positions of the square patterns alternate so that a charge in one deck is above or below the center of a cluster of four charges in an adjacent deck. Charge dimensions, spacings between charges, detonator locations, separations between decks, and other design parameters were selected to enhance the rock fragmentation caused by the detonation-induced stress waves and to provide for effective transport of the fragments to their final resting places in the rubble bed. The fragmentation was evaluated using a computational procedure from a rock mechanics program. The fragment motion aspects have not been studied. Most of the key features of the blasting concept have been addressed, some with a greater level of confidence than others.

Tags: kmd
Toxicological characterization of water produced during simulated in-situ processing of a reference shale. Progress report. [Treated, untreated and fractionated process water]

A study of the toxicity of 150-ton R-17 oil shale process water to aquatic organisms is in progress. This water was generated during a simulated in situ retort experiment conducted with a reference western oil shale. Results of this study will, therefore, be appropriate for inclusion in the Department of Energy reference oil shale data base. The toxic effects of untreated, treated, and fractionated 150-ton R-17 process water were determined using bacteria (Microtox assay), zooplankton (Ceriodaphnia affinis/dubia), and fish (fathead minnow). A concentration of less than 1% process water was acutely toxic to all organisms tested. The toxicity of the water to the Microtox organism was substantially reduced following a treatment sequence of hot-gas stripping plus activated carbon adsorption plus reverse osmosis. Concentrations of less than 10% treated water were lethal to Ceriodaphnia and fathead minnows. Tests of the major fractions of 150-ton R-17 process water indicated that the organophilic fraction was more toxic to the Microtox organism while the hydrophilic fraction was more toxic to Ceriodaphnia and fathead minnows. Identification of the toxic constituents of 150-ton R-17 process water will be completed during the final stage of this study. 10 refs., 8 tabs.

Tags: kmd
Creep behavior of Utah oil shale subject to uniaxial loading

This paper presents results of a study on the creep behavior of Utah oil shale. A Conbel Model 355 pneumatic driven testing machine is used. The set of duplicate test specimens required for creep testing were cut from a single oil shale layer using a wire saw to avoid any surface damage. A rheological model was developed for creep behavior of oil shale as a function of stress level and organic content. Data from creep testing and Fischer assay analyses were used to demonstrate correlation between various stress levels and organic contents for samples taken from the Mahogany Zone of the Parachute Creek Member in Utah's Cowboy Canyon.

Tags: kmd
Assay products from Green River oil shale

Data from 66 material-balanced assays conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Laramie Energy Technology Center, and The Oil Shale Corporation were compiled and analyzed to determine the pyrolysis stoichiometry for Green River formation oil shales originating in and near the Mahogany zone. Shale samples came from four sites in Colorado and one in Utah, and ranged in oil content from 12 to 258 L/Mg (3 to 62 gal/ton). Average values and pairwise correlation coefficients are reported for all data (except sulfur analyses) available on the shales, e.g., elemental analyses of shales and oils, distribution of organic carbon in products, gas composition, and some ratios of elemental composition. The wide range of organic carbon contents made it possible to demonstrate the sensitivity of assay product distribution to oil shale grade. A linear correlation for shale grade as a function of weight percent organic carbon in raw shale is presented. An average stoichiometry for pyrolysis of the organic material is also calculated and compared with others available in the literature.

Tags: kmd
Wastewater and sludge control-technology options for synfuels industries. Volume 2:  tar-sand-combustion process water-removal of organic constituents by activated-sludge treatment

Gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry analysis of raw process water from reverse-forward combustion in a tar sand extraction experiment indicated that identifiable compounds were distributed in about equal portions among acid, base, and neutral fractions. The compounds in the neutral fraction were unsaturated, oxygenated methyl cyclohexenyl ketones, methyl-methylcyclohexenyl ketones, acetophenones including methyl-tolyl ketones, lactones, and indanones. Neutral fraction constituents were reduced by about 99% during activated-sludge treatment. The base fraction consisted pyridines, quinolines and their alkane substitutes, and acridines. These compounds were reduced by about 76% during treatment. The acid fraction consisted of carboxylic acids ranging in molecular weight from C/sub 1/ to C/sub 11/, phenols and cresols, and benzoic and toluic acids. These materials were reduced by about 95% through activated-sludge treatment. It was concluded that (1) activated-sludge treatment can reduce soluble organic carbon and chemical oxygen demand by about 90% in the process water and (2) the water is nonmutagenic as defined by the standard Salmonella/Ames test.

Tags: kmd
Oil shales and tar sands:  a bibliography. [5049 citations]

The economic and enviornmentally acceptable utilization of the Nation's reserves of oil shales and tar sands represents a challenging contribution to a solution of the national energy dilemma. To aid those individuals and organizations involved in oil shale and tar sand processing and utilization reasearch, the Department of Energy Technician information Center has cataloged, indexed, and stored in machine-readable form a significan portion of the scientific and technical information on oil shales and tar sands published since the early 1930s.

Tags: kmd