Pressure drops during low void volume combustion retorting of oil shale

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · In Situ; (United States)

OSTI ID:5753475

McLendon, T R

Stacks of cut oil shale bricks were combustion retorted in a batch, pilot scale sized retort at low void volumes (overall voids ranged from 8.4% to 18.4%). Retort pressure drops increased during retorting at least one order of magnitude. The Ergun equation and Darcy's law have been used by several researchers and organizations as diagnostic tools on oil shale retorts. These equations were tested on the uniformly packed retort reported in this paper to evaluate how well the equations represented the experimental conditions. Use of the Ergun equation to estimate the average particle size from retort pressure drops gave answers that were only approximately correct. Calculation of retort pressure drops from Darcy's law during retorting at low void volumes will probably give answers that are several times too small. Thermal expansion of the shale during retorting decreases retort permeability greatly and calculation of the decreased permeability is not possible at the present level of technology.

• Research Organization: US Department of Energy, P.O. Box 1189, Laramie, WY 82070
• OSTI ID: 5753475
• Journal Information: In Situ; (United States), Journal Name: In Situ; (United States) Vol. 10:1; ISSN ISOMD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040402* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Surface Methods
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
COMBUSTION
DARCY LAW
DECOMPOSITION
DISTILLATION EQUIPMENT
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUATIONS
EQUIPMENT
EXPANSION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATERIALS
OIL SHALES
OXIDATION
PARTICLE SIZE
PERMEABILITY
PRESSURE DROP
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RETORTING
RETORTS
SIZE
THERMAL EXPANSION
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES