Potential uses of spent shale in the treatment of oil shale retort waters

Conference · Sun Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5289667

Fox, J P; Jackson, D E; Sakaji, R H

This paper evaluates two potential uses of spent shale for the treatment of in-situ oil shale process waters - in-situ treatment in an abandoned retort and surface treatment by columns of spent shale. Batch and column studies were conducted using four in-situ retort waters, one gas condensate, and six spent shales. The effect of spent shale contact on the organic and inorganic carbon, conductivity, and pH of the waters was determined and related to specific surface area of the shale and retort operating conditions. These studies indicate that spent shale may be used to reduce the organic and inorganic carbon, conductivity, color, and odor and to elevate the pH of retort waters and gas condensate. Spent shale reduces the inorganic carbon by 47 to 98%, the organic carbon by 7 to 66%, and elevates the pH from initial levels of 8 to 9 up to 10 to 11. TOSCO II spent shale was the best adsorbent for organic carbon, while Lurgi and simulated in-situ spent shales achieved the highest inorganic carbon reduction. These results suggest that a packed bed of spent shale could be placed ahead of an ammonia removal step in a retort water treatment system. The increase in pH achieved by the spent shale column would convert ammonium to ammonia which could be readily stripped. The simultaneous reduction in electrical conductivity and dissolved organic and inorganic carbon by the spent shale column would decrease the load of these constituents on subsequent treatment steps.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA). Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5289667
• Report Number(s): LBL-11072; CONF-800425-6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040900* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Waste management
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320305 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Industrial Waste Management
CARBON
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
LIQUID WASTES
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PACKED BED
PH VALUE
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROCESSING
SPENT SHALES
TOSCO PROCESS
USES
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER TREATMENT