Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Project Description <br />American Shale Oil LLC (AMSO), formerly EGL Resources, Inc., is the holder of <br />federal Research, Development, and Demonstration Oil Shale Lease COC 69169, isstu d <br />by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). AMSO has built a drill pad and access road <br />under APCD Permit 08RB0923L, and. is now planning to conduct various research and <br />development (R&D) activities at the lease holdings in order to test and develop the iii-situ <br />oil shale removal technologies planned for. the site. <br />The initial R&D testing is scheduled to occur in 2010 and is expected to last <br />approximately 125 days. The R&D test period allows for up to 15 days for startup of <br />equipment and 10 days for equipment shutdown. Over the R&D test period, equipment <br />utilization is planned to be in the range of 80 - 85%. The remainder of the test run will <br />require the equipment to be operated in stand-by mode. Subsequent R&D testing, will <br />depend on the results from this initial testing. See Figure I below. <br />Figure 1 <br />Research & Development Timeline <br />10Days ? is <br />Start Up 100 Days Shut Down <br />(expected utilization of 80 - 85% over this period) <br />AMSO's technology is known as the Conduction, Convection, Reflux (CCRTM) <br />retorting process. The CCRrm process uses a boiling pool of shale oil in the bottom of <br />the retort in contact with a heat source. Hot vapors evolving from the boiling shale oil <br />heat the surrounding shale with both direct sensible heat and latent heat of condensation <br />as the vapors circulate through the underground retort. As the oil shale nearest the <br />evolving hot vapors reach the retorting temperature (about 630 degrees F), kerogen is <br />retorted. Thermal expansion, in combination with geomeclranical confinement of the <br />surrounding rock formation, also causes the shale to break apart at the retort boundary. <br />The fracturing of the adjacent rock causes additional shale to be exposed to the hot <br />vapors, repeating the process and resulting in retort enlargement. <br />The heat source will be an electric heater located in the underground retort, <br />supplemented by circulating electrically-heated hot fluids from the surface to the retort. <br />The shale oil products will be drawn to the surface through a production well, which may <br />be the same at the heater well or through an adjacent well. The anticipated production <br />• <br />Page 12 o14-6