Oil shale retorting process with a moving bed pressure letdown stage
A dry sealing leg apparatus is comprised of four chambers through which a moving bed of retorted shale particulates from an oil shale retort is passed serially: a surge chamber, a gas injection chamber, a seal leg chamber, and a gas disengaging chamber. In the gas injection chamber, a sealing gas penetrates the moving bed of shale and divides into two portions. One portion travels countercurrently to the shale through the surge chamber and enters the retort at a positive pressure to seal product gases therein. A second portion travels co-currently with the shale through the seal leg chamber and gas disengaging chamber and exits at a pressure less than that of the retort, having been reduced in pressure by resistance to its passage through the shale. A method is provided wherein shale particulates are retorted, then passed through the dry sealing leg to reduce pressure, and crushed at a lower pressure than the operating pressure of the retort, following which the crushed retorted particulates are transported by an entraining gas stream to a fluidized combustor in which a substantial proportion of combustible materials on the shale particulates is burned to release heat energy for recovery from the flue gases.
- Assignee:
- Union Oil Company of California
- Patent Number(s):
- US 4435271
- OSTI ID:
- 6606414
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
040402* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Surface Methods
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMICAL REACTORS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTORS
COMMINUTION
CONTROL
CRUSHING
DECOMPOSITION
DESIGN
DISTILLATION EQUIPMENT
ENERGY RECOVERY
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
FLUE GAS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTION
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GAS FLOW
GASEOUS WASTES
HEAT RECOVERY
MATERIALS
OIL SHALES
OXIDATION
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
PRESSURE CONTROL
RECOVERY
RETORTING
RETORTS
SPENT SHALES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES