Fine particulate removal from oil shale on a travelling grate retort
AssigneeDravo Corporation
InventorsDaniel W. Kestner, Jr., Frank Forbes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a process for the removal of fines from a bed of oil bearing shale in a travelling grate retort, a fluid such as air, inert gas or process gas is drafted through the bed in order to entrain in the fluid substantially all of the fines in the bed. The fines are then evacuated from the bed thus increasing the permeability of the bed and substantially decreasing the fines in the retorted shale oil.
Claims7
A process for the removal of fines from a bed of oil bearing shale on a travelling grate retort which includes a feed zone in which said shale is charged onto said grate to form said bed and a plurality of shale processing zones defined by hoods and windboxes disposed above and below the grate and through which said bed is carried by said travelling grate, said removal process being effected prior to the retorting of oil from said oil bearing shale in one of said processing zones by passing hot retorting gases through said bed to vaporize and carry off for condensation, the oil in the shale, said process comprising the steps of:
- passing a flow of non-shale oil bearing fluid into said oil bearing shale at a temperature below retorting temperature to entrain in said flow substantially all of the fines in said bed;
- and
- evacuating said flow of fluid with said entrained fines from said bed while maintaining said flow separate from said hot retort gases whereby the amount of fines in the retorted shale oil is significantly decreased.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.