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i <br />IN SITU O[L SHALE PROCESS DEb"ELOPVEVT <br />by <br />' •. Richard D. Ridley and R. T. Chew, III <br />Reprinted from <br />Qtrarferly <br />of the <br />_ Colorado School of \lines <br />vol. ~o, n'o. s, Jul}•, Is,s <br /> <br /> <br />f~ <br />IN SITO OIL SII:ILG PROCESS DES-FLOP\fE\T <br />• Richard D. Ridle} and R. T. Chctt, III <br />i <br />It is a real plcaxirc to return here «ith a~othcr parer on thz G.vrctt <br />oil shale precess. It is p.uticularl}' intere;tin~ to attend tthat mi;ht be <br />called the first stntpo<ium en in situ processing. It ~ a dramatic chance <br />from last }'ear, when the Oni}' paper rn in sihi prrcessin^ was obout tha <br />i Garrett precess. On}' one paper on today's prcgram a not on in situ pro <br />cess i n g. <br />The intent is not to go into a lame amount of tzcluiical detail on the <br />Carre:t process. R'e have said much on the prcces in the past and «ill <br />no: corer it in detail here. Basically}.«e mine cut rooms underground. <br />The fast retcrts Deere v0 feet an a side} end 74 feet high. In the research <br />phase tee drilled vertical heirs in the ceiling, leaded them with ammcnium <br />i nitrate-fuel oil and bl:utcd them. The result s<<u a rubble pile, or under- <br />ground chimney, 73 Feet high. 1Yu then drilled down to the top of the retort <br />! for an entn tvav for air and recycle gas, lowered a bruncr in, started a fire <br />at the top, and t~crked it down through the retort under mntrclled condi- <br />lions. The process a essentially a modification of thz \T[J process. <br />Our first retort gave better than GO percent yield according to Fischer <br />assay. <br />Rather than a lot of details on prccessing, we ~•: ill report on work under- <br />tvav, what has been accomplahed during the past year, and Bice same idea <br />of die sophistication in this process. <br />R`e ha~~e t«o mines. The original mine ~~~here we conducted cur first <br />three retorting e.~periments is nose callzd the "Research Mine." Our second <br />mine is the so-called "Comnrerciaf \(ine." «'e began Mork in the summer <br />of 19.? on the D. A. Shale.'Callahan Tnat Company property at [he head <br />of Logan ~~'ash, cutside cf DcRcgne, Cc!orado. ~\'e arc on the outcrop cE <br />the Roan Cliffs alcng die scuthcrn edgz cf the Piceance Creek Rosin. The <br />,.. surface plant is sho~~n in figure 1. lire drill rig in the foreground is close <br />to a pain[ directly above one of cur retcrts. The pipe extending down oser <br />the cliff brings the recycle gas and the air into the retort. An air blo~~cr <br />is by the tent. Tsto stack allow flexibiGt} in tenting the gas anr] locating <br />scrubbing equipment <br />•- <br />u <br />r . <br />~. RicLerd D. Ridley. E.renrticr, Vice Frcrdrnt; R. T. C6e¢, ILI, OcrdrnteL OiL SIw(c, <br />. -Inc., Grand Junction, Colorcdo. - <br />