Method of recovering liquid and gaseous products of oil shale
AssigneeAZS Corporation
InventorAndrejs Zvejnieks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of processing oil shale to recover liquid or gaseous products which comprises constructing longitudinally sloping trenches excavated in a mineral deposit which is relatively impermeable in relation to the crushed oil shale, placing the crushed shale into the sloping trenches and covering same with a compacted layer of clay or other relatively impermeable and essentially inorganic minerals and thereafter igniting the oil shale at the upper end of the trench. Air is introduced at points along the upper end of the trenches and as the retorting zone moves longitudinally downward in the sloping trenches the liquid and gaseous materials are withdrawn at points located at the lower end of the trenches.
Claims15
A method for recovering products from oil shale comprising the steps of:
- providing an enclosed sloping cavity by constructing said cavity as an open trench in a relatively impermeable mineral formation, placing crushed oil shale in said trench, covering said crushed oil shale with a relatively impermeable material, such as clay, igniting said oil shale at the upper portion of said trench, introducing a gaseous means such as air or oxygen for supporting combustion at one or more points located near the upper end of the enclosed trench, and as the products of the combustion and pyrolisis move downward in the sloping trench withdrawing any liquid and or gaseous material at one or more points located near the lower end of said trench.
A method for recovering products from oil shale comprising the steps of:
- providing at least one tunnel in oil shale by removing the oil shale to make the tunnel, thereafter causing the oil shale to detach from the surrounding walls in said tunnel by causing one or more explosions in said tunnel to create additional crushed shale in the tunnel, providing an open sloping trench in a relatively impermeable mineral formation, placing the oil shale removed in the process of forming the tunnel in the open trench, covering said oil shale with relatively impermeable material such as clay, igniting said oil shale at the upper portion of said trench, introducing a gaseous means such as air or oxygen for supporting combustion at one or more points located near the end of the trench, and as the products of the combustion and pyrolisis move downward in the sloping trench withdrawing any liquid and/or gaseous material at one or more points located near the end of said trench.
A method for recovering products from oil shale and relatively impervious material such as rock comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of tunnels in the oil shale, causing the oil shale to detach from the surrounding walls in said tunnels and creating a sloping cavity having the crushed shale therein, igniting said oil shale at the upper portion of said cavity, introducing a gaseous means such as air or oxygen for supporting combustion at one or more points located near the upper end of enclosed cavity, and as the products of the combustion and pyrolisis move downward in the sloping cavity withdrawing any liquid and/or gaseous material at one or more points located near the lower end of said cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.