Western Research Institute: Annual technical progress report, April 1985-March 1986
The one-dimensional model of oil shale retorting has been modified to incorporate liquid-phase behavior of oil and water. The formation and deposition of oil mist, drainage of liquid oil, and gas pressure drop in rubble can be calculated using as many as 11 separate boiling fractions. Experiments on the decomposition of kerogen during pyrolysis have been done on two grades of western oil shale and on an eastern shale. Chemical and physical properties of the DOE interim reference oil shales have been measured using a variety of analytical methods. Parameters necessary to interpret the chemistry and physics occurring during in-situ thermal processing and those factors that influence the selection of tar sand resources for in-situ thermal processing were identified. Gas analyses by quadrupole mass spectrometry indicated that low temperature oxidation of bitumen occurs during the startup of the in situ combustion process. Saturate hydrocarbons isolated from recovered oils were characterized by mass spectrometry. Three underground coal gasification (UCG) tests in the block reactor have verified that gasification pressure does not affect methane production from horizontal coal seams. The test results indicate that methane production from coal pyrolysis is not enhanced by methanation. At higher gasification pressures, the steam char reaction is inhibited by equilibrium, and the char thickness increases at the cavity sidewall. Water vapor and pyrolysis products from the coal flow through the hot char zone into the cavity. At the high temperatures near the cavity surface, thermodynamic equilibrium favors demethanation rather than methanation.
- Research Organization:
- Western Research Inst., Laramie, WY (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC21-83FE60177
- OSTI ID:
- 6389698
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/FE/60177-2347; ON: DE87010509
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
010404 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Gasification
04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040400* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Oil Production
Recovery
& Refining
AROMATICS
BIODEGRADATION
BITUMENS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CALORIFIC VALUE
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CAVITIES
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL GASIFICATION
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GASIFICATION
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
IN-SITU COMBUSTION
IN-SITU GASIFICATION
IN-SITU PROCESSING
KEROGEN
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MINERAL OILS
OIL SANDS
OIL SHALES
OILS
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC MATTER
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PHENOLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROCESSING
PYROLYSIS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RETORTING
SHALE OIL
SITE SELECTION
SPECIFIC HEAT
TAR
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES