Retorting of coal, oil shale and tar sand by means of circulated fine-grained heat carriers as a preliminary stage in the production of synthetic crude oil
Numerous processes are available for the production of crude oil from coal, oil shale or tar sand. A process sequence which is suitable for all 3 starting materials includes a retorting step to produce oils, which are subsequently hydrogenated. An efficient modern retorting process is described, which has been commercially utilized for the flash carbonization of coal and has been tested in technical scale experiments using oil shale and tar sands. When a carbonizing process is used in the production of synthetic crude oil, a flash carbonization using fine-grained heat carriers affords special advantages. These advantages reside in very high throughputs, in higher yields or tar, and in the production of a carbonization gas which is concentrated rather than diluted by combustion gases. Another important difference from the earlier technology is the use of fine-grained coal. Such a modern process is the Lurgi Ruhrgas (LR) process, which has been developed ready for commercial operation. The main feature of the LR process is the use of a circulating heat carrier consisting of the fine-grained char that has been produced in the process itself. A simplified flow diagram is shown. The process is described in detail. (17 refs.)
- OSTI ID:
- 6129214
- Journal Information:
- Q. Colo. Sch. Mines; (United States), Vol. 65:4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
COAL LIQUEFACTION
HEAT SOURCES
OIL SANDS
RETORTING
OIL SHALES
LURGI-RUHRGAS PROCESS
PARTICLE SIZE
PYROLYSIS
SYNTHETIC PETROLEUM
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
LIQUEFACTION
MATERIALS
SIZE
SYNTHETIC FUELS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
010405* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Hydrogenation & Liquefaction
040402 - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Surface Methods