Sandia Laboratories tries out new approach to in-situ oil shale retorting in Wyoming
A special technique to prepare an oil shale bed for true in situ retorting has been tested by Sandia Laboratories near Rock Springs, Wyo. A follow-up test to recover oil by retorting the prepared shale bed will be conducted this summer in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Laramie Energy Research Center. Both projects are sponsored by DOE's Division of Oil, Gas, Shale, and In Situ Technology. In true in situ retorting, shale is completely processed in place, rather than being mined, completely or partially, as is the case with other in situ processes to recover oil from shale. The technique consists of fracturing a volume of oil shale in place, pumping air into the fractured zone, igniting the oil shale and freeing oil by burning the carbon residue remaining in the shale after the oil has been released. The burn front progresses slowly through the fractured zone, and the flow of gases causes oil to move to wellbores in the rubblized bed, where it is recovered. Rubblizing is a key step, since shale must be porous enough to allow air flow for combustion, but not so porous as to cause land subsidence after oil recovery. A distributed fracture system also is needed, to insure that a high percentage of shale is converted to oil.
- OSTI ID:
- 6398426
- Journal Information:
- Eng. Min. J.; (United States), Vol. 179:4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
OIL SHALES
FRACTURING
IN-SITU RETORTING
WYOMING
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
LARAMIE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CENTER
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMMINUTION
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
MATERIALS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
PROCESSING
RESOURCES
RETORTING
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
040401* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- In Situ Methods
True & Modified