Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials

389 Pages·1981·5.49 MB·English

by  H. C. Stauffer (Eds.)

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In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
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In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and
Related Materials
H. C. Stauffer, EDITOR
Gulf Research & Development Company
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ACS S Y M P O S I UM SERIES 163
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
WASHINGTON, D. C. 1981
In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
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98 Oil shale, tar sands, and related materials.
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k- (ACS symposium series, ISSN 0097-6156; 163)
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21/ Includes bibliographies and index.
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0.1 1. Oil shales—Congresses. 2. Oil sands—Congresses.
oi: 1 calI .S Soctaieutfyfe. r,D Hiv.i sCio.n, 1o9f2 2Fu- el Ch. eImI.i sAtrmy. erIiIcIa.n C Chheemmiic al
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81 | C19o8n0g;r eLsas s oVfe gtahse, N Neovr.)t h IVA.m Seerriiecsa.n Continent (2nd:
19 TN858.A1038 665'.4 81-10948
3, ISBN 0-8412-0640-6 AACR2 ACSMC8 163 1-395
er 1981
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at Copyright © 1981
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
ACS Symposium Series
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W. Jeffrey Howe Davis L. Temple, Jr.
James D. Idol, Jr. Gunter Zweig
In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
FOREWORD
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In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
PREFACE
D
omestic oil shale and tar sand deposits constitute a tremendous re
source. The proven, recoverable oil shale reserves alone far exceed
those remaining for petroleum. In light of this fact, it is not surprising
that there are many people having trouble comprehending our vulnerable
energy position.
Attempts to develop a commercial oil shale industry historically have
been on-again, off-again efforts. In almost yearly cyclical fashion, one has
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0 heard or read at least one paper enthusiastically suggesting the general
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3. theme, "An Oil Shale Industry—Just Around The Corner." Until now,
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0 however, the corner has never been turned and the development pace of
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98 this sorely needed resource has been low key at best. All of our domestic
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k- heavy oil production and tar sands development endeavors have been in
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0.1 The ability to turn the corner always has been stalled by unfavorable
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oi: economics. Some combination of factors arises which continually delays
1 | d the development of these alternative energy resources because of their
98 noncompetitive position compared with the price of foreign oil. In reality,
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3, this has obscured the real issue—the fragile nature of our domestic energy
ber structure which is so dependent on the ready availability of imported crude.
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e Hope springs eternal, however, and recent developments have indi
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Se cated that the corner may indeed have been turned at last. Although the
ate: DOE oil shale research, development, and demonstration program has been
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n trying to foster a technically and environmentally sound industry capable
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ati of meeting the President's goal of 400,000 bbl/d by 1990, the recent sign
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bli ing of Senate Bill S.932 should provide a significant and needed impetus.
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P This bill, The Energy Security Act, provides for a United States Synthetic
Fuels Corporation which has the mission of encouraging the production of
500,000 bbl/d from alternative sources by 1987 and 2,000,000 bbl/d by
1992. Even more recently, several major developers have announced
definitive plans for tract development. On-site activity has commenced to
achieve a production goal of 50,000 bbl/d before 1990.
These are most worthy goals, but past procrastination will make them
difficult to attain. It should not be surprising that in situ retorting is still
in its early development stage; that a single, commercial surface retort
module has yet to be constructed and successfully demonstrated; or that a
full slate of products refined from syncrude has still to be proven acceptably
interchangeable with those derived from petroleum.
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In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
With respect to recent events the timing of this symposium was only
coincidental. Its content, however, is not. The participants have recognized
the diverse problems, and many of them are addressed in this volume. The
novel concepts of oil shale fracturing and retorting as well as tar sands
recovery processes need to be evaluated. Much needed input has been
provided on rubbling and retorting kinetics and mechanisms, which still
are poorly understood. Our tendency to look for simple solutions to com
plex problems is apparent in the discussion of "simple" hydrogenation of
shale oil to products of questionable and perplexing stability characteristics.
In view of our long-term domestic energy deficit, the stimulating discussion
of the potential for a very large-scale oil shale operation merits serious
consideration.
1 Nature's petroleum supply is constrained now by what remains in the
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pr0 ground; development of our oil shale and tar sands resources appear only
63. to be constrained by our own actions.
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1-0 The credit for the content of this symposium belongs to the partici
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In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
1
The Department of Energy's Oil Shale R, D, & D
Program: An Overview
ARTHUR M. HARTSTEIN and BRIAN M. HARNEY
Office of Oil Shale, Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20545
01 The largest untapped fossil fuel resource in the United
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h States is the oil bearing shales in the western part of the
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63. country and the black shales in the east. The oil shale
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k-1 oil. An additional two trillion barrels of oil exists in the
1/b lean deposits of the Eastern U.S.
02 Since the earliest commercial interest more than 100 years
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0. ago, the history of oil shale has been one of ups-and-downs.
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oi: In almost cyclical fashion, the shale industry has appeared to
d be on the verge of expanding rapidly, economics have appeared
1 | potentially viable, and the problems have seemed minimal. But
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1 then, a combination of factors, such as jumps in construction
ber 3, cleods tst oo rde ltahyes dainsdc ovienr ys oomfe nceaswe sc,o nvdeenctiisoinoanls otoi ld rreospo usrhcaelse, o hialv e
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e development.
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Dat situation in the middle east and the passage by the Congress of
on a variety of significant financial incentive programs for synthe
ati tic fuels has stimulated a new interest in moving previously
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development, and demonstration (R,D&D) program for encouraging
the development of the country's oil shale resource to help in
the mitigation of the present and future energy demands. The
aim of the Oil Shale R,D&D Program is to stimulate the commer
cial production of shale oil by eliminating technical and envir
onmental barriers. This paper provides an overview of the DOE
Oil Shale R,D&D Program, addressing its essential elements. It
should be noted that budget constraints do not permit all
portions of the program plan to be supported as yet. Moreover,
in many cases, the program areas are addressed jointly with
industry. Oil shale program funding for the plan is $31.3
million in Fiscal Year 1981.
This chapter not subject to U.S. copyright.
Published 1981 American Chemical Society
In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.
2 OIL SHALE, TAR SANDS, AND RELATED MATERIALS
Program Goal and Objectives
The Department of Energy's R,D&D oil shale goal is to permit
the entire oil shale resource, both east and west, to contribute
to domestic energy proportionate to the resource and with a re
cognition of the unique environmental character of the oil shale
areas. In concert with this goal, the objectives of the R,D&D
program are:
o To overcome technological barriers to oil shale commer
cialization
o To foster development of innovative processes for all
1 shales that reduce environmental impact
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3. o To obtain accurate environmental data and demonstrate
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1 The analysis of commercialization incentives and mitigation
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doi: 1 Aasltshiosutgahn t thSee crleetada ryf orf oer nvEinrvoinrmoennmteanlt . plaTnhnei nRg, Dr&eDs tpsr owgirtah mt,h e
1 | however, integrates the activities under the Assistant Secretary
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ber Program Strategy
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ept In essence, the DOE program goal is to develop the techno
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Dat basis and in an environmentally acceptable manner. The DOE
n strategy to accomplish this end is comprised of two major acti
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o Development and Demonstration Support
Through the existence of these parallel activities, the
DOE Oil Shale R,D&D Program focuses near term research and de
velopment (R&D) on supporting industrial development while main
taining an adequate level of more advanced R&D attuned to future
needs. The technology developments that will result by achieving
the program's objectives will be made available to the oil shale
industrial community. Industrial participation in DOE sponsored
demonstrations is encouraged as means of maintaining the tech
nological alignment of the R,D&D Program with the needs of in
dustry. These demonstration activities involve the DOE Program
In Oil Shale, Tar Sands, and Related Materials; Stauffer, H.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1981.