Control strategies for abandoned in situ oil shale retorts

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:6024489

Persoff, P; Fox, J P

In situ oil shale retorting may result in a number of environmental impacts including degradation of local surface and groundwaters, low resource recovery, and subsidence. The target of present oil shale commercialization activities is the Mahogany zone in Colorado's Piceance Creek Basin. The principal oil shale resource in this area is surrounded by two confined aquifers. During mining and retorting, these aquifers are dewatered. When the site is abandoned, groundwater will reinvade the area and flow through the abandoned retorts, leaching potentially toxic or carcinogenic materials from the spent oil shale. This material may then be transported in local aquifers, withdrawn in wells or discharged into the Colorado River system as base flow. Certain control technologies appear potentially able to protect groundwater quality at reasonable cost. These include designing retort blocks to include a hydraulic bypass around abandoned retorts (about $0.50/bbl), placing absorbent clays in abandoned retorts to catch and hold leachable matter (about $0.50/bbl), collecting leachate and treating it on the surface (about $1.20/bbl), protecting abandoned retorts from leaching by placing a grout curtain around a block of abandoned retorts (about $2.00 to $3.00/bbl), or grouting abandoned retorts with spent shale (about $3 to $4/bbl).

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA). Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6024489
• Report Number(s): LBL-9040; CONF-790440-3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040401 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- In Situ Methods
True & Modified
041000* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Environmental Aspects
520500 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABANDONED SITES
AQUIFERS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COLORADO
COST
DISSOLUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GREEN RIVER FORMATION
GROUND SUBSIDENCE
IN-SITU PROCESSING
IN-SITU RETORTING
LEACHING
MAHOGANY ZONE
MANAGEMENT
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SHALES
PICEANCE CREEK BASIN
POLLUTION CONTROL
PROCESSING
RETORTING
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SEPARATION PROCESSES
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL