Western oil shale conversion using the ROPE copyright process

Technical Report · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5964635· OSTI ID:5964635

Cha, C Y; Fahy, L J; Grimes, R W

Western Research Institute (WRI) is continuing to develop the Recycle Oil Pyrolysis and Extraction (ROPE) process to recover liquid hydrocarbon products from oil shale, tar sand, and other solid hydrocarbonaceous materials. The process consists of three major steps: (1) pyrolyzing the hydrocarbonaceous material at a low temperature (T {le} 400{degrees}C) with recycled product oil, (2) completing the pyrolysis of the residue at a higher temperature (T > 400{degrees}C) in the absence of product oil, and (3) combusting the solid residue and pyrolysis gas in an inclined fluidized-bed reactor to produce process heat. Many conventional processes, such as the Paraho and Union processes, do not use oil shale fines (particles smaller than 1.27 cm in diameter). The amount of shale discarded as fines from these processes can be as high as 20% of the total oil shale mined. Research conducted to date suggests that the ROPE process can significantly improve the overall oil recovery from western oil shale by processing the oil shale fines typically discarded by conventional processes. Also, if the oil shale fines are co-processed with shale oil used as the heavy recycle oil, a better quality oil will be produced that can be blended with the original shale oil to make an overall produce that is more acceptable to the refineries and easier to pipeline. Results from tests conducted in a 2-inch process development unit (PDU) and a 6-inch bench-scale unit (BSU) with western oil shale demonstrated a maximum oil yield at temperatures between 700 and 750{degrees}F (371 and 399{degrees}C). Test results also suggest that the ROPE process has a strong potential for recovering oil from oil shale fines, upgrading shale oil, and separating high-nitrogen-content oil for use as an asphalt additive. 6 refs., 10 figs., 11 tabs.

• Research Organization: Western Research Inst., Laramie, WY (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: FC21-86MC11076
• OSTI ID: 5964635
• Report Number(s): DOE/MC/11076-2954; ON: DE91002018
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040402* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Surface Methods
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BITUMENS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBON
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTORS
DATA
DECOMPOSITION
DIAGRAMS
DISTILLATION EQUIPMENT
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
FISCHER ASSAY
FLOWSHEETS
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GASES
HEAT
HYDROGEN
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
MATERIAL BALANCE
MATERIALS
MATERIALS RECOVERY
MINERAL OILS
MODIFICATIONS
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
OIL SANDS
OIL SHALE FINES
OIL SHALES
OIL YIELDS
OILS
OPERATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT UNITS
PROCESS HEAT
PROCESSING
PYROLYSIS
RECOVERY
RECYCLING
RESIDUES
RETORTS
ROPE PROCESS
SHALE GAS
SHALE OIL
SPENT SHALES
SULFUR
SYNTHETIC FUELS
SYNTHETIC PETROLEUM
TAR
TESTING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
YIELDS