By-products boost oil shale
All schemes for tapping the oil-shale wealth of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming have called for heat-extraction of the hydrocarbons, after which the spent shale would be dumped into the nearest big canyon. It now appears that from here on the economic analysis of any proposed oil-shale venture will have to recognize that the area's shale oil which is by far the world's largest known oil reserve occurs in a mixture with 2 almost equally valuable resources, dawsonite and nahcolite. It is noted that 100 lb of dawsonite can be converted into 35 lb of alumina, and 100 lb of nahcolite can be converted into 63 lb of soda ash. The growing recognition of the commercial potential of these ores particularly dawsonite-will hasten large-scale development of the oil-shale resources. The data indicate that ''recovered and refined equivalent product (weights), expressed as a ratio, are 1 ton of aluminum metal to 16 tons of soda ash to 30 tons of shale oil, with each of these being worth roughly $500 at today's market. Thus, the total potential value of the basin reserves is about tripled.'' For example, in a plant processing 135,000 lb per day of shale, 100,000 bpd of synthetic crude oil would be produced, together with 1,000 tons per day of alumina and 8,000 tons per day of soda ash.
- OSTI ID:
- 6174606
- Journal Information:
- Chem. Week; (United States), Journal Name: Chem. Week; (United States) Vol. 102:10; ISSN CHWKA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
An economic analysis of an oil shale, nahcolite, dawsonite complex in Colorado. Option III, Circular 1971
CIRCA Fall 1973: an economic analysis of an oil shale nahcolite, dawsonite complex in Colorado, Option II. [Design and cost evaluation of hypothetical industry-scale complex for mining and processing oil shales, nahcolite, and dawsonite]
Related Subjects
040600* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Products & By-Products
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
BY-PRODUCTS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CARBONATES
CHALCOGENIDES
COLORADO
DAWSONITE
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
MATERIALS
MINERAL OILS
MINERAL RESOURCES
MINERALS
NAHCOLITE
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
OIL SHALES
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RESOURCES
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SHALE OIL
SODIUM CARBONATES
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SODIUM MINERALS
USA
UTAH
WYOMING