Evaluation of a horizontal in-situ oil-shale-retorting experiment

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:5263532

Tyner, C E; Parrish, R L; Major, B H; Lekas, J M

Sandia National Laboratories and Geokinetics, Inc., have recently completed processing of a 6000-tonne horizontal in situ oil shale retort near Vernal, Utah. The heavily instrumented, explosively fractured oil shale bed, containing 12% void, was combustion retorted with air or air plus recycle at several flow rates. A number of techniques were used to evaluate the effectiveness of these various processing modes. Material balance calculations using offgas and flow data, for example, estimated a sweep efficiency of 77% and an average local retorting yield of 58% of Fischer Assay (resulting from a 15% loss to oil coking and a 27% loss to oil combustion). These results, calculated as functions of operating conditions, were found to be in close agreement with those determined from other offgas correlations, thermal data, oil analyses, and actual oil production rates. The experiment demonstrated that true in situ retorting of thin-seam rubbled shale beds with low void volume is practical using horizontal burn techniques.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA); Geokinetics, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5263532
• Report Number(s): SAND-81-2087C; CONF-820610-2; ON: DE82006730
• 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
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
DECOMPOSITION
DISTILLATION EQUIPMENT
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
EVALUATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
IN-SITU RETORTING
MATERIALS
OIL SHALES
OPERATION
PROCESSING
RETORTING
RETORTS