AndreaBozzo/ceres-open-data-index huggingface dataset:
CONTINUOUS PREHEATING OF COLORADO OIL SHALE, Development Engineering Unit Report No. 5

Several foreign operators preheat shale prior to retorting as a heat-economy measure, and it has been suggested that this practice be applied to retorting operations in this country. Potentially, the heat economy to be gained by preheating shale is substantial and therefore it was decided to investigate the preheating of Colorado shale on a pilot plant scale using heated flue gas contained approximately 3 mole percent oxygen to heat the shale. Results of the experimental work indicated that shale preheat temperatures above which appreciable oil loss occurred were 375F for a 36 minute residence time and 285F, for a 51 minute residence time. Thus, it was demonstrated that at low preheating residence times, a substantial portion of the total heat required for retorting can be imparted to Colorado shale before it enters the retort without suffering a serious loss of oil. Therefore, for certain types of retorting processes, preheating the shale charge probably would result in a worthwhile heat economy.

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PROGRESS ON A 2-D OIL SHALE RETORTING MODEL

We report on our progress in developing a two-dimensional modified in situ oil shale retorting model. A kerogen pyrolysis model has been coupled to a two dimensional flow code called WAFE. WAFE computes multicomponent, two phase mass and energy transport in permeable media. It allows heat transport in the fluid, through the rubble, betweenfluid and rubble and within representative spherical shale particles. Representative sphere radii are chosen to match average particle surface area. Pyrolysis of kerogen occurs inside the particles. The fluid dynamics and the chemistry are fully coupled. Examples of calculations using the present form of the model are given.

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COST EVALUATION OF INDUSTRY-SCALE OIL-SHALE PROJECT, Planning and Evaluation Report No. 9 and abridgement

On September 1, 1951 the Bureau of Mines submitted to the National petroleum Council an alternate to the proposal used by NPC in their initial oil shale evaluation study. The Bureau's plan differs in concept of the physical location of operating steps, in method of retorting the shale, in the processes used to refine the shale oil, and in the kinds and quantities of end products made. It is the Bureau's belief that the retorting process illustrated is an advance over those previously proposed and that refining by the conventional techniques currently in use in petroleum refineries is an approach to shale oil processing which must not be overlooked. It is hoped that the National Petroleum Council, acting for industry, will study this plan and make use of its findings in future statements of the feasibility of oil shale utilization.

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EVALUATION STUDY OF TWO ALTERNATE COMMERCIAL SCALE OIL SHALE PROJECTS USING GAS-COMBUSTION RETORTING, Planning and Evaluation Report No. 10

This report covers the preparation of the data recommended for use in the 1951 annual report of the secretary. Two proposals, or cases, are considered. The first is the Bureau's proposal of September 1, 1951 altered to put it on the same production basis as the national petroleum council's proposal. The second is the national petroleum council's proposal with gas combustion retorting facilities substituted for the union retorting facilities-all other features being retained unaltered. Certain change sin estimating factors, labor rates, etc., were necessary to make the data from the two sources consistent.

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IDENTIFICATION BY 13C NMR OF CARBON TYPES IN SHALE OIL AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO PYROLYSIS CONDITIONS

A number of samples of shale oil prepared under various conditions have been examined by C-13 NMR using multiple pulse techniques that allow carbon type assignments. Previous assignments by Netzel et al are confirmed and several new ones made. Product chemistry is then examined as a function of heating conditions. New or verified observations are: 1) isoprenoids are evolved in the early stages of oil generation, and the average length of normal hydrocarbons in the evolved oil is approximately independent of the extent of kerogen conversion, 2) alkene content depends strongly on the heating rate during pyrolysis but average normal chain length does not, and 3) the ratio of isoprenoid to normal carbons and the average normal chain length in bitumen are greater than in shale oil, but there are greater questions about the correct equation for calculating the average normal chain length of bitumen.

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EVALUATION OF MECHANICAL EXCAVATION SYSTEMS FOR OIL SHALE MINING

This paper summarizes an investigation into the applicability of mechanical excavation to oil shale mining; identifies available machine types that are best suited to various aspects of the mining operation; presents preliminary comments on the configuration of an "IDEAL" oil shale mining machine; and establishes the background information necessary for conceptualizing and evaluating new mining methods using mechanical excavation equipment. Conclusions are also presented as to the best currently available systems, as well as potential future systems.

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EVALUATION OF SHALE OIL NAPHTHA TREATING METHODS, Planning and Evaluation Report No. 16

The Bureau of Mines has presented an Industry-Scale Oil Shale Project Report in which a 234,000 B/CD operation is designed and its cost estimated. Crushed oil shale is retorted by the Gas-Combustion retorting process. The crude shale oil is visbroken near the retorting site and pipelined from Colorado to California. The visbroken oil is cracked thermally, yielding naphtha and residuum. The cracked naphtha is split into two fractions, the light naphtha being treated with five pounds of 98% sulfuric acid per barrel. The heavy fraction is reformed with a hydrogen atmosphere over cobalt-molybdate catalyst and the reformate treated lightly with concentrated sulfuric acid. Residuum is utilized, in part, as refinery fuel and the balance is marketed as bunker-grade fuel oil.

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COMPARISON OF NATIONAL PETROLEUM COUNCIL, BUREAU OF MINES, AND COPPERS CO. INC. PROPOSALS FOR AN INDUSTRY-SCALE OIL SHALE PROJECT, Planning and Evaluation Report No. 20

Shale oil requires considerable refining to convert it to marketable products. The number of processing possibilities is large and the choice of a particular operation is dependent on many factors. Different approaches to the problem have been suggested by the National Petroleum Council, Bureau of Mines, and the Koppers Company, Inc. It is the purpose of this report to compare the three proposals and indicate the processes and economic advantages and disadvantages of each.

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REFINERY TREATING PLANT OPERATIONS - RUN NO. 11, Refining Unit Report No. 18

The prime objective was to determine the sulfuric acid rate required to produce a finished gasoline containing a maximum of 0.25 weight percent sulfur. Earlier runs had indicated that the required acid treatment for such results would be between 8 and 19 pounds per barrel, so an acid rate of 11.0 pounds of 66Be acid per barrel of distillate was selected for this run. The quantity of charge stock was limited, however, so only one test period was possible.

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REFINERY TREATING PLANT OPERATIONS GASOLINE TREATING RUN NO. 12, Refining Unit Report No. 20

This report covers gasoline treating run No. 12. Operating conditions were set to obtain data for completion of one phase of the investigation of treating cracked shale oil gasoline with concentrated sulfuric acid, namely the determination of the optimum acid application rate required to produce an acceptable finished gasoline containing 0.25 weight percent total sulfur or less.

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HYDROCRACKING N-T-U CRUDE SHALE OIL AND HYDROTREATING SHALE-OIL NAPHTHAS, Refining Unit Report No. 21

The results of the preliminary test period on both hydrocracking and hydrotreating are contained in this report and are discussed under the two general headings: hydrocracking and hydrotreating. All product inspections and analytical results included in this report were determined by the Bureau of Mines. All operational data and gross product recoveries included in this report were furnished by HRI.

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COKING OF SHALE-OIL RESIDUUM IN CURRAN COKE OVENS, Refining Unit Report No. 12

Coking of residual fuels as an adjunct to the production of liquid fuels has been accomplished in a number of different ways. The importance of coking in petroleum processing is exemplified by the number of improved methods that have been developed in recent years. These improvements have been directed in general toward reducing the cost of coking and coke removal rather than improvement of coke quality. However, the Curran Carbonizing and Engineering Company has developed a coke oven for liquid charge that produces a coke for metallurgical use having higher strength, more desirable size gradation, and lower volatiles than most other petroleum coking processes.

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REFINERY CRACKING PLANT OPERATIONS - RUNS NOS. 46, 47, AND 48, Processing Section Refining Unit Report No. 44

Run No. 46, made in three parts between February 25 and March 21, 1952, was an atmospheric flash dehydration operation charging tank sludge bottoms for the removal of the emulsified water and for taking a light gas oil cut. Relatively dry oil suitable for charge to cracking operations was recovered from tank bottoms that had accumulated over a considerable period of time and which contained an average of 67.5% water.

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REFINERY TREATING OPERATIONS - TREATING PLANT RUNS NOS. 26 & 27, Processing Section Refining Unit Report No. 52

This report covers treating plant run No. 26 on light naphtha and run No. 27 on heavy naphtha, made on October 27 to 31, 1952. The primary objective of the runs was to investigate the cold acid treatment of naphtha produced by recycle cracking of crude shale oil. A secondary purpose of the heavy naphtha run was to investigate the effects on operation of the use of 30F chiller outlet temperatures. Operating difficulties have been experienced in past runs in the plugging of the chillers when the temperatures were maintained at 20F.

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LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABORATORY OIL SHALE PROJECT - QUARTERLY REPORT - JULY-SEPTEMBER 1979

Retorting of the shale bed in Run L-3 was terminated as planned before the full 20 feet was retorted because of a known thermal weakness in the vessel wall at about the 5.8 m depth. Fischer assay of the recovered shale showed that oil evolution was complete to the 5.5 m depth and about 22% complete between the 5.5 and 5.8 m depths. The 5.8 to 6.1 m depth was unretorted. It also contained free oil incompletely removed from the bed during the run. After applying these corrections, we now report the oil yield from L-3, based on recovered dry oil compared to Fischer assay of the shale actually retorted, as 83%.

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INVESTIGATION OF TRANSPORT HISTORY OF SHALE OIL DURING IN SITU RETORTING

"An investigation was made of the three major phases of shale oil transport history during in-situ retorting (the formation of oil aerosol, the formation of oil film at the raw shale surface, and the release of shale oil from the raw shale surface) to formulate equations which can be used to predict in-situ retorting process performance. Available experimental data were reviewed and used along  with theoretical derivations for the formulation of the above equations. The equation was developed to predict the amount of aerosol in the product gas as percent of total oil produced during in-situ retorting as a function of retorting parameters. It was found that the amount of aerosol in the product gas as percent of total oil produced  increases with increases in retorting zone advancing rate and superficial gas velocity and with decreases in effective thermal conductivity, which decreases with the mean volume-surface diameter. A correlation was developed to predict the oil film thickness at the oil shale surface as a function of retorting parameters. Oil film thickness decreases exponentially as temperature increases,  increases with superficial gas velocity, and decreases as heating rate increases. Oil film thickness is not strongly dependent on mean volume-surface particle diameter.  Correlations were also developed to predict the volume of oil adsorbed per volume of shale, to predict the initial oil production date from the bottom of the in-situ retort, and the retort pressure increase due to the oil film. The volume of oil adsorbed per volume of shale is strongly dependent on the mean volume-surface particle diameter and temperature of the raw shale, and slightly dependent on the heating rate and superficial gas velocity. It appears that the presence of water reduces the volume of oil hold-up by the unit volume of shale. The oil film significantly increases the retort pressure drop when the retort void fraction is less than 20 percent. Preliminary experimental data on oil desorption shows that the use of steam as inlet gas reduces the amount of oil loss due to the revaporization."

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N-T-U RETORT OPERATIONS USING 300 CFM RECYCLE GAS, Retorting Unit Report No. 3

This is the third report to be issued describing portions of a projected series of operations on the N-T-U retorts. This present report describes N-T-U retorting operations made with a constant recycle gas instrument setting of 300 cfm while varying the air rate over the range of air blower capacity.

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N-T-U RETORT OPERATIONS USING 200 CFM RECYCLE GAS, Retorting Unit Report No. 2

The N-T-U retort is an internally fired, batch type process which is self sustaining from the standpoint of fuel. Heat for the process is obtained when air, mixed with circulated product gas, is passed through the shale bed and the residual organic material is burned from the shale. A distillation zone is formed just below the combustion zone as a result of heat exchange between raw shale and the hot gases issuing from the combustion zone. The oil and vapors formed are withdrawn from the bottom of the retort and pass to a condensing system.

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RETORTING OF OIL SHALE IN THE TVA FLASH CARBONIZER

The possibility of testing the flash carbonization principle on oil shale has been considered with interest since establishment of the Oil Shale Demonstration plant in late 1944. However, because of the shortages of manpower and equipment, no definite move to effect such work was begun until early 1946. At this time officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority were approached by the Bureau of Mines in an effort to arrange the testing of the flash carbonization process on oil shale. The Tennessee Valley Authority advised that a small pilot unit capable of holding approximately 1-1/2 tons of raw oil shale was located at their Wilson Dam, Alabama, phosphate plant. The pilot plant had been constructed for use in coal carbonization studies to produce coke for use in phosphate production experiments.

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ULTIMATE TENSILE STRENGTHS OF COLORADO AND UTAH OIL SHALES

Ultimate tensile strength of Green River Formation oil shale along the bedding planes is a mechanical property parameter important to predicting how oil shales will break. This is particularly important to in situ fragmentation. Split cylinder testing was applied to measure this parameter. The split cylinder test was reviewed and critically evaluated in detail to assure its applicability to this study. Test specimens representing oil shales of the Mahogany zone sections of cores taken from the Naval Oil Shale Reserve No. 1 in Colorado and from the Bonanza area in Utah were subjected to the split cylinder test. Linear regression equations relating ultimate tensile strength along the bedding planes to volume percent of organic matter in the rock were developed from the test data. The Utah and Colorado equations are statistically undistinguishable, corresponding to their identical mineralogy. A similar equation representing this clay rich, dolomite poor Tipton member of Wyoming's Green River Formation differed sharply, demonstrating an emphatic mineralogical influence with major variations.

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THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF GREEN RIVER FORMATION OIL SHALE OF WYOMING'S TIPTON MEMBER

The twelve non-zero coefficients in the stiffness and flexibility matrices for Tipton Member oil shale are expressed in terms of the elastic non-linear constants consisting of Young's moduli and Poisson's ratios obtained from uniaxial compression tests on square prisms taken from the same horizon of a 6 inch core. These matrices relate the three dimensional stresses and strains, from which data such as pressure versus volume changes can be derived. Pertinent independent variables on the elastic constants include organic volume and stress levels. Physical model and regression analyses are developed for these elastic constants

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THREE DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COLORADO OIL SHALE

Three-dimensional stiffness coefficients and compressive strengths perpendicular and parallel to bedding planes of Colorado oil shale are obtained from tested samples. Each sample set consists of two square prisms taken from the same horizon but cut perpendicular and parallel to bedding planes. The twelve non-zero coefficients in the stiffness matrix for oil shale are expressed in terms of the elastic constants consisting of Young's moduli and Poisson's ratios obtained from uniaxial compression tests on these square prisms. Pertinent independent variables on the elastic constants include organic volume and stress levels.

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STRAIN-RATE EFFECTS ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF UTAH OIL SHALE

Mechanical testing of oil shale from the Parachute Creek Member in Utah's Cowboy Canyon provided the data to evaluate the influence of strain rate and organic composition on the ultimate fracturing strength, the median Young's modulus and the ultimate strain. A multi-parameter statistical analysis demonstrated a strong influence by both organic volume as well as strain rate on the ultimate compressive stresses, while the ultimate strain was influenced by organic volume only. Median Young's modulus showed strong dependency on both organic volume and strain rate. Failure modes ranged from brittle for lean samples at fast strain rates to ductile for rich samples at slow strain rates. A strain rate dependency failure mechanism is proposed to explain the observed behavior. A comparison is made against the behavior of Wyoming's Tipton Member. Mineralogical and geological differences of Tipton and parachute Creek Members on mechanical behavior are elaborated.

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EVALUATION OF SHALE OIL COKING AND HYDROGENATION PROCESSES Planning and Evaluation Report No. 19

A previous intrabureau report has presented an evaluation of shale oil refining proposals in which visbroken shale oil was pipelined and the entire oil thermally cracked as the first processing step in California. The preliminary study presented in this report considers two other refining steps that could be applied to the visbroken oil at the pipeline terminal, 1) coking the crude oil and thermal cracking the coker gas oil and 2) coking the crude oil and high pressure hydrogenation of the coker distillate. The latter case is the Koppers refining process being applied in California. An earlier study evaluated the Koppers process on the basis of location in Colorado.

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PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SELECTED OIL SHALE (FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT)

The major goal of this research project is to extend our past testing and analyses methodology, developing and standardizing a procedure for general mechanical properties characterization of selected oil shales with emphasis on Devonian oil shales. In accordance with the research proposal, the following properties have been investigated and characterized: 1) three dimensional mechanical properties; 2) direct tensile strengths and indirect tensile strengths; 3) nonlinear creep and viscoelastic behavior; and 4) triaxial testing.

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MECHANICAL-PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GREEN RIVER FORMATION OIL SHALE

This paper emphasizes the creep behavior of oil shale samples taken from the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation. A nonlinear rheological model was developed for the creep behavior. Other mechanical properties, including 3-D stiff nesses on rich, medium, and lean oil shales are presented. It was concluded that the organic content and the stress levels were important parameters. Effects of mineralogy and geological aspects are also discussed, and these appear to have some influence on the mechanical properties of oil shale.

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MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF OIL SHALE FROM COWBOY CANYON, NORTH EAST UINTA BASIN, UTAH

Constitutive laws goerning three-dimensional stress/strain relationships for oil shale are fundamental to predicting the mechanical behavior of the rock when subjected to modifications incurred during mining, fragmentation, creation of in place permeability, etc. Mechanical testing of oil shale from the Mahogany Zone of the Parachute Creek Member in Utah's Cowboy Canyon provided the data to evaluate the three-dimensional non-linear coefficients of the stiffness matrix for transversely isotropic materials. These twelve non-zero coefficients are expressed in terms of the elastic constrants consisting of Young's moduli, Poisson's ratio, and shear modulus, related by regression analysis to the independent variables consisting of organic volume and stress level.

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RESULTS OF MODEL SIMULATION STUDY OF LETC TS-2S IN-SITU TAR SANDS EXPERIMENT

In May, 1978, the Laramie Energy Technology Center (LETC) contracted with Intercomp Resource Development and Engineering, Inc. (Intercomp) and Dr. H.L. Hutchinson to conduct a mathematical model study of the TS-2C tar sands recovery experiment which was conducted August 1977 through February 1978. The model study was performed to help LETC interpret the effects of field parameters and operating procedure upon the test and answer certain questions that arose about the test and thus help refine the design and operation of any possible future tests.

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DECISION CRITERIA FOR APPLICATION OF STEAM DRIVE TO U.S. TAR SANDS

The United States tar sand resource consists of an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil. Most of this resource is in six large deposits in Utah. A previous study of these areas indicates that two of these deposits (Tar Sand Triangle and Sunnyside) have a net potential recovery of 1.8 billion barrels of oil which can be realized by successful application of steam drive technology. The purpose of this report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. EW-78-C-20-0012, is to provide “Assistance in Development of Decision Criteria for DOE-EOR Project 10” which is designed to extend the applicability of the steam drive process to heavy oil reservoirs (tar sands).

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INTERPRETATION OF GROUND DEFORMATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH HYDRAULIC FRACTURING IN GHE ASPHALT RIDGE TAR SAND, LARAMIE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CENTER FIELD FACILITY, VERNAL, UTAH

Fracture design is summarized in Table 2. The design called for fluid injection in six stages through a slot in the well casing at 470 feet, the first stage consisting of fluid without proppant, the intermediate stages consisting of injection of frac fluid with proppant, and the last consisting of 320 gallons to displace the frac fluid in the well. The proppant was 8/12 sand in concentrations ranging from 0.75 pounds per gallon (ppg) to 3.0 ppg. The design called for injection of a total of 60,000 gallons (1,429 bbls.) of fluid, which included 111,250 pounds of propant. 1,495 bbls. were actually injected, 1,488 bbls. Of which entered the formation, the rest remaining in the well bore.

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