Bureau of mines researches way to oil shale development

Journal Article · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1978 · Petro/Chem Eng.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5441827

Chambers, P S

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has been investigating oil shale and shale oil since 1944, and $1.9 million will be spent in 1970 on further research at the Laramie, Wyo., center. With a few exceptions, projects are laboratory experiments or small pilot plants designed to study the characteristics and conversion of oil shale and shale oil. Emphasis is on developing useful data for other organizations. The use of underground nuclear explosions to fracture and retort an oil shale deposit (Project Bronco) is now delayed . Future work centers around a new 150-ton retort, designed to test the feasibility of retorting various sizes of shale pieces and to produce data applicable to in situ and aboveground operations. The retort operation should establish several parameters for full-scale operations. One recent experiment on in situ oil-shale retorting has been conducted. Waste disposal and pollution control are also being investigated: one project deals with processing retort waste waters; another is devoted to wind and water erosion of spent shale dumps. Other studies have been made of the structural response of Green River oil shale to heat and stress.

• OSTI ID: 5441827
• Journal Information: Petro/Chem Eng.; (United States), Journal Name: Petro/Chem Eng.; (United States) Vol. 42:2; ISSN PCHEA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040000* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLOITATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
IN-SITU RETORTING
INDUSTRY
MATERIALS
MINERAL OILS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OIL SHALE INDUSTRY
OIL SHALES
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RETORTING
SHALE OIL
US BUREAU OF MINES
US DOI
US ORGANIZATIONS