A Model for the Combustion Retorting of Shale-Oil
In the combustion retorting of oil shale, a combustion wave is caused to move down through a bed of raw shale particles. Hot inert gases flow ahead of the wave and decompose the kerogen in the raw shale. Oil produced by this pyrolysis reaction is carried from the hot zone as a vapor, which condenses on cold shale particles and falls out the bottom of the bed as a liquid product. The pyrolysis leaves behind a bed of particles containing a carbonaceous residue, a variety of carbonates, some silicates and a large amount of inert rock. The carbonaceous residue in the processed shale provides the fuel for the combustion. The size of the oil yield from the process depends on keeping the combustion zone separated from the retorting zone and on minimizing the combustion of oil by oxygen which has bypassed the hot carbon residue.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign