Oil-Shale Program. Twenty-Seventh and Twenty-Eighth Quarterly Reports, July 1982-December 1982

摘要

The objective has been to acquire the ability to prescribe an efficient process for in situ recovery of a given oil shale resource. The overall efficiency of shale oil recovery processes is determined principally by a combination of sweep efficiency, retorting efficiency and volumetric efficiency. These individual efficiency components are related to the way in which the retort bed is prepared, the retorting technique employed, and the structural characteristics of the mine and in situ retorts. Therefore, the Sandia program addresses these three main areas: (1) bed preparation and characterization; retorting process; and structural stability. For convenience, this report is organized with most of the text under these main headings. Some of the highlights for this period are: (1) A post-burn coring effort on Geokinetics retort 23 has been completed. (2) A 100 kg laboratory vessel to be used for studying the effects of permeability contrasts has been fabricated. Fielding and data acquisition on the D-series tests at Anvil Points were completed. (3) Preliminary design was completed for the first two single borehole tests to be performed by Sandia as part of the joint Rock Fragmentation Experimental Program. (4) Considerable advances have been made in the computational techniques to determine long-term fragment motion. Two computer codes, BUMP and BLOCKS, have been used to examine motion for a cratering geometry. (5) A series of tracer tests were completed at the LETC 150 ton retort. (6) A finite element analysis showing the effect of elevated temperature on retort roof stability was completed. As expected, the analysis indicates elevated temperatures increase the likelihood of roof collapse. 31 figures, 5 tables. (ERA citation 08:043305)