Production of shale oil by in-situ retorting of oil shale

Patent · Tue Apr 05 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6224663

Miller, J

A modified in-situ retort for the retorting of oil shale is constructed by mining an open space having a volume of twentyfive to thirty-five percent of the volume of the retort in the bottom of the retort and thereafter blasting the oil shale that is to remain in the retort as rubble in a manner to cause random free fall of the shale particles onto the rubblized bed. Blasting occurs sequentially from the bottom of the unfragmented shale immediately above the open space to the top of the retort. At each blast, there is an open space below the shale to be broken in the blast having a volume at least one-third the volume of that shale, and the timing of the blasts is such that movement of the broken shale is not interfered with by shale broken in the preceding blast. There is no withdrawal of oil shale that would cause downward movement of the rubble that is to be retorted insitu. The resultant in-situ retort is characterized by a high and uniform permeability.

• Assignee: Gulf Oil Corp
• Patent Number(s): US 4378949
• OSTI ID: 6224663
• 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
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMMINUTION
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLOSIVE FRACTURING
FOSSIL FUELS
FRACTURING
FUELS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
IN-SITU RETORTING
MATERIALS
MINERAL OILS
OIL SHALES
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
PROCESSING
PRODUCTION
RETORTING
SHALE OIL
VOLUME