Colony lifts curtain on oil shale

Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1965 · Eng. Min. J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6703450

A prototype mine and plant facility was put into production by Colony Development Co. at the end of June 1965, to investigate extraction of oil shale from the reserves of marlstone in Colorado's Piceance basin. The project will accumulate operating experience, engineering and economic information to enable Colony to scale-up to commercial size, perhaps as early as 1968. Colony Development Co. serves as agent for The Standard Oil Co. (Ohio), Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., and Oil Shale Corp. The mine is located on the edge of a 7,500-acre reserve of oil shale. The plant is designed to test the Tosco process and also any variations of the processes which may be developed on the site. The Tosco process involves a rotating drum to which heated ceramic balls of alumina and crushed shale are fed. The kerogen decomposes into gases that are condensed by cooling into crude shale oil. Colony expects to recover 600 to 800 bbl of shale oil per day from the prototype unit. Significantly, the crude has a pour point of 0 to 10$F and this is suitable for pipelining without additional processing. The prototype stage is planned for a 6-9-mo. operation for accumulation of data.

• OSTI ID: 6703450
• Journal Information: Eng. Min. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Eng. Min. J.; (United States) Vol. 166:7; ISSN ENMJA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040402* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Surface Methods
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COLORADO
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATERIALS
MINERAL OILS
NORTH AMERICA
OIL SHALES
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
RECOVERY
RETORTING
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SHALE OIL
USA