Effect of groundwater and pH modification on quality of leachate from simulated in-situ retorted Utah Oil Shale

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983 · SPEJ, Soc. Pet. Eng. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/10628-PA· OSTI ID:5262744

Bethea, R M; Barber, D R; Guven, N; Parker, H W

Major variables reported in this study were retorting temperature, retorting atmosphere (inert, air added, air and CO/sub 2/ added), and groundwater quality (source). All leaching tests were made at atmospheric pressure and most at room temperature. Leaching tests were made with groundwater to observe the ability of spent shale to remove materials from groundwater and the possible ability of those materials to plug the pore structure of the spent shale and to minimize further leaching. The factor having the greatest effect on leachate composition was retort temperature. The presence of CO/sub 2/ during hightemperature retorting suppressed the amounts of baseforming materials generated. All leachates were affected significantly by the groundwater used for leaching. As expected, more material was leached from the retorted Utah shale when the higher-purity groundwater was used. The addition of 2% Wyoming bentonite for the purpose of pH modification to the groundwater used for leaching the retorted shale (780 and 1000/sup 0/C (1,436 and 1,832/sup 0/F) retort atmosphere of air with 15% CO/sub 2/ added) showed that the bentonite had only a small effect on the leaching of monovalent cations and essentially no effect on the movement of the heavy, hazardous cations. The effect of retorting temperature was mixed with the exception of chromium, which increased four- to fivefold in the leachate. The permeability of Utah shale was determined by retorting two cores from Rock 2 at 780/sup 0/C (1,436/sup 0/F) for 48 hours in the presence of air alone. The differences in the final permeability of these cores can be attributed to differences in groundwaters.

• Research Organization: Texas Tech University
• DOE Contract Number: FG03-78ET13084
• OSTI ID: 5262744
• Journal Information: SPEJ, Soc. Pet. Eng. J.; (United States), Journal Name: SPEJ, Soc. Pet. Eng. J.; (United States) Vol. 23:5; ISSN SSPJD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040401 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
041000* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Environmental Aspects
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
BENTONITE
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBON DIOXIDE INJECTION
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CATIONS
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMIUM
CLAYS
DECOMPOSITION
DISPERSIONS
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FLUID INJECTION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GROUND WATER
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
IN-SITU RETORTING
IONS
LEACHATES
LEACHING
MATERIALS
METALS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MISCIBLE-PHASE DISPLACEMENT
MIXTURES
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
OIL SHALES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
PH VALUE
PLUGGING
POLLUTION
PROCESSING
RESOURCES
RETORTING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SIMULATION
SOLUTIONS
SPENT SHALES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
USA
UTAH
WATER
WATER POLLUTION