IGT HYTORT process for hydrogen retorting of Devonian oil shales

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6117994

Weil, S. A.; Feldkirchner, H. L.; Punwani, D. V.; Janka, J. C.

Until recently, many shales were considered unsatisfactory feedstocks because of their relatively low oil yields in the Fischer Assay test and in conventional thermal retorting. In many instances - most notably in the case of Devonian marine shales of the eastern United States - Fischer Assay oil yields, per unit weight percent of organic shale content, have been less than half of those obtained from the more familiar but less abundant Eocene lacustrine shales of the Green River area of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. This strongly suggests that yield differences are related to the chemistry of the specific kerogen being retorted, and in particular to its hydrogen content. IGT work has shown that elemental hydrogen can react with kerogen to enhance the yield of shale oil and hydrocarbon gases obtained by retorting. This work led to the HYTORT concept for the production of syncrude and gas. Utilizing Eastern US Devonian oil shale feedstocks, organic carbon recoveries as high as 90% have been achieved in thermobalance tests, and as high as 85% in bench-scale tests; this compares with a conversion level of only about 35% using eastern shale feedstocks and conventional retorting. Preliminary economic analyses indicate that HYTORT can produce syncrude from low-grade eastern Devonian shales competitively with TOSCO and Paraho processing of higher-grade Colorado shales.

• Research Organization: Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago, IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 6117994
• Report Number(s): CONF-7811122-1
• Resource Relation: Conference: Chattanooga shale conference, Oak Ridge, TN, USA, 14 Nov 1978
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
BLACK SHALES
RETORTING
HYTORT PROCESS
CHATTANOOGA FORMATION
HIGH BTU GAS
HYDROGENATION
KEROGEN
SYNTHETIC PETROLEUM
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
OIL SHALES
SYNTHETIC FUELS
040402* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Surface Methods