Explosively produced fracture of oil shale. Progress report, October-December 1981

Technical Report · Sat May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:5299685

Morris, W A

The Los Alamos National Laboratory is conducting rock fragmentation research in oil shale to develop the blasting technologies and designs required to prepare a rubble bed for a modified in situ retort. The first section of this report outlines our experimental work at the Anvil Points Mine in Colorado with the Oil Shale Consortium sponsored by six major oil companies and managed by Science Applications, Inc. It details our proposed studies in explosive characterization and describes our progress in numerical calculation techniques to predict fracture of the shale. A detailed geologic characterization of two Anvil Points experiment sites is related to previous work at Colony Mine. The second section focuses on computer modeling and theory. One paper describes our latest generation of the stress wave code SHALE, its three-dimensional potential, and the slide line package for it. The second paper details how new bedded crack model calculations demonstrate agreement between predictions and field data. The final paper discusses a general stress-rate equation that takes energy dependence into account. 13 figures.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5299685
• Report Number(s): LA-9286-PR; ON: DE82016405
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040300* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Drilling
Fracturing & Mining
ANVIL POINTS RESEARCH FACILITY
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COMMINUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLOSIVE FRACTURING
FOSSIL FUELS
FRACTURING
FRAGMENTATION
FUELS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
MATERIALS
MODIFIED IN-SITU PROCESSES
OIL SHALE PROCESSING PLANTS
OIL SHALES