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24-703: The Paraho process was invented by John B. Jones, Jr., later president of the Paraho Development Corporation, and developed by Development Engineering, Inc., in the late 1960s. Its design was based on a gas combustion retort developed by the United States Bureau of Mines and the earlier Nevada–Texas–Utah Retort . In the late 1940s, these retorts were tested in the Oil Shale Experiment Station at Anvil Points in Rifle, Colorado . In 1971,

48-618: A lease 40 miles southeast of Vernal, Utah . The demonstration module was never built. In 1982, Paraho’s semi-works plant was torn down when the Anvil Points station was decommissioned, but the pilot plant was moved to an adjacent plot of private land. In 1987, Paraho reorganized as New Paraho and began production of SOMAT asphalt additive used in test strips in 5 States. In 1991, New PARAHO reported successful tests of SOMAT shale oil asphalt additive. On 28 June 2000, Shale Technologies purchased Paraho Development Corporation and became owner of

72-608: Is classified as an internal combustion method. Accordingly, the Paraho Direct retort is a vertical shaft retort similar to the Kiviter and Fushun retorts, used correspondingly in Estonia and China. However, compared to the earlier gas combustion retorts the Paraho retort's raw oil shale feeding mechanism, gas distributor, and discharge grate have different designs. In the Paraho Direct process,

96-409: Is classified as an internal combustion technology. The Kiviter retort is a vertical cylindrical vessel that heats coarse oil shale with recycled gases, steam, and air. To supply heat, gases (including produced oil shale gas ) and carbonaceous spent residue are burnt within the retort. Raw oil shale is fed into the top of the retort, and is heated by the rising gases, which pass laterally through

120-476: Is classified as an internal combustion technology. For the oil shale pyrolysis it uses a vertical vessel retort. Crushed raw oil shale is fed into the top of the retort, and it moves downward by gravity. When moving downward, oil shale is heated by the rising recycled gases, which cause decomposition of the rock. Recycled gases enter the retort from the bottom. Gases are heated on the lower part of retort by descended spent shale . On their way up, gases move through

144-458: Is similar to the Paraho Direct except that a part of the gas from the compressor is heated to between 600 °C (1,112 °F) to 800 °C (1,472 °F) in a separate furnace and injected into the retort instead of air. No combustion occurs in the Paraho Indirect retort itself. As a result, the fuel gas from the Paraho Indirect is not diluted with combustion gases and the char remains on

168-399: Is that neither are able to process oil shale particles smaller than about 12 millimetres (0.5 in). These fines may account for 10 to 30 per cent of the crushed feed. Gas Combustion Retort Process The gas combustion retort process (also referred as gas-combustion retorting process ) was an above-ground retorting technology for shale oil extraction . It was a predecessor of

192-917: The Paraho and Petrosix processes, and modern directly heated oil shale retorting technologies in general. The gas combustion retort process was developed by the United States Bureau of Mines at the end of the 1940s. The first gas combustion retort, designed by Cameron Engineers , went into operation in 1949 and it was located in the United States Bureau of Mines' Oil Shale Experiment Station at Anvil Point in Rifle, Colorado . The Bureau of Mines tested this process in three retorts with capacity of 6, 10, and 25  ton of oil shale per day accordingly. The consortium of Mobil , Humble Oil , Continental Oil , Pan American Oil, Phillips Petroleum Company , and Sinclair Oil evaluated and improved this technology between 1964 and 1968. The gas combustion retort process

216-482: The Standard Oil of Ohio started to cooperate with Mr. John B. Jones providing financial support for obtaining an oil shale lease at Anvil Points. In May 1972, the lease was approved. Before leasing a track at Anvil Points, a test of using the Paraho Direct process for limestone calcination in cement kilns was carried out. The consortium for developing the Anvil Points lease – the Paraho Development Corporation –

240-507: The Webb-Chambers-Gary-McLoraine Group. Shale oil retorting started in 1974 when two operational retorts – pilot plant and semiworks – were put into operation. The semiworks unit achieved a maximum throughput capacity of 290  tons (263 tonnes) of raw oil shale per day. In March 1976, the Paraho Development Corporation tested a modification of its technology – the Paraho Indirect process. The Anvil Points lease

264-429: The bottom of the retort. After processing, shale ash is disposed of. The liquid oil is separated from produced water and may be further refined into high quality products. The mixture of evolved gases and combustions gases is available for use as a low quality fuel gas for drying or power generation. The Paraho Indirect is classified as an externally generated hot gas technology . The Paraho Indirect retort configuration

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288-454: The combustion of char in the spent shale. The combustion takes place where air is injected at two levels in the middle of the retort below the pyrolysis section raising the temperature of the shale and the gas to 700 °C (1,292 °F) to 800 °C (1,472 °F). Collecting tubes at the top of the retort carry shale oil mist, evolved gases and combustion gases into the product separation unit, where oil, water and dust are separated from

312-420: The combustion zone, where air and dilution gases are injected causing combustion of gases and carbonaceous residue of spent shale ( char ). The heat from combustion brings the temperature in the retorting zone above of the burning zone to the necessary level for retorting. The incoming raw oil shale cool oil vapors and gases, which then leave the top of the retort as a mist. The main advantage of this process

336-401: The crushed and screened raw oil shale is fed into the top of the retort through a rotating distributor. The oil shale descends the retort as a moving bed. The oil shale is heated by the rising combustion gases from the lower part of the retort and the kerogen in the shale decomposes at about 500 °C (932 °F) to oil vapour, shale oil gas and spent shale . Heat for pyrolysis comes from

360-440: The descending oil shale causing decomposition of the rock. Pyrolysis is completed in the lower section of the retort, where the spent shale contacted with more hot gas, steam and air is heated to about 900 °C (1,650 °F) to gasify and burn the residual carbon ( char ). Shale oil vapors and evolving gases are delivered to a condensing system, where condensed shale oil is collected, while non-condensable gases are fed back to

384-424: The disposed spent shale. The main advantage of the Paraho process is simplicity in process and design; it has few moving parts and therefore low construction and operating costs compared with more sophisticated technologies. The Paraho retort also consumes no water, which is especially important for oil shale extraction in areas with water scarcity . A disadvantage common to both the Paraho Direct and Paraho Indirect

408-412: The gases. For combined removal of liquid droplets and particulates, a wet electrostatic precipitator is used. Cleaned gases from the precipitator are compressed in a compressor. Part of the gas from the compressor is recycled to the bottom of the retort to cool the combusted shale (shale ash) and carry the recovered heat back up the retort. Cooled shale ash exits the retort through the discharge grate in

432-525: The heat carrier was later replaced by a concept of heat carrier gas cross flow in the retort. The Kiviter technology has been used in Estonia since 1921, when first experimental Kiviter retorts were built. The first commercial scale oil plant based on the Kiviter technology was built in 1924. From 1955 to 2003, Kiviter technology was used for oil shale processing also in Slantsy , Russia. The Kiviter process

456-406: The proprietary information relating to the Paraho oil shale retorting technologies. On 14 August 2008, Queensland Energy Resources announced that it will use the Paraho Indirect technology for its Stuart Oil Shale Project . The Paraho process can be operated in two different heating modes, which are direct and indirect. The Paraho Direct process evolved from gas combustion retort technology and

480-556: The retort. Recycled gas enters the bottom of the retort and cools the spent shale, which then leaves the retort through a water-sealed discharge system. The Kiviter process uses large amounts of water, which is polluted during processing, and the solid waste residue contains water-soluble toxic substances that leach into the surrounding area. The Kiviter process is used by the Estonian Viru Keemia Grupp 's subsidiary VKG Oil. The company operates several Kiviter retorts,

504-529: Was closed in 1978. In 1976–1978, under the contracts with the United States Navy , Paraho technology was used for production of 100,000 barrels of crude shale oil. It was tested for using as military transportation fuels. The Gary Western Refinery in Fruita, Colorado , refined the Paraho shale oil for production of gasoline , jet fuels , diesel fuel marine, and heavy fuel oil . Paraho JP-4 aviation fuel

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528-454: Was formed in 1973. In addition to the Standard Oil of Ohio, other participants of the consortium were Atlantic Richfield , Carter Oil, Chevron Research , Cleveland-Cliffs Iron , Gulf Oil , Kerr-McKee , Marathon Oil , Arthur G. McKee, Mobil Research , Phillips Petroleum Company , Shell Development , Southern California Edison , Standard Oil Company (Indiana) , Sun Oil , Texaco , and

552-900: Was tested by the United States Air Force in the T-39 jet aircraft flight, which took a place between the Wright Patterson Air Force Base ( Dayton, Ohio ) and the Carswell Air Force Base ( Fort Worth, Texas ). In addition, the Paraho heavy fuel oil was used for fueling a Cleveland-Cliffs Iron ore carrier during its 7-day cruise on Great Lakes . On 13 June 1980, the Department of Energy awarded $ 4.4 million contract (participants providing additional $ 3.7 million) for an 18-month study to construct an 18,000 TPD modular demonstration shale oil plant producing 10,000 BPD on

576-415: Was that it does not require cooling water, which made it suitable for using in the semi-arid regions. Kiviter process The Kiviter process is an above ground retorting technology for shale oil extraction . The Kiviter process is based on the earlier vertical retort technology (Pintsch's generator). This technology underwent a long process of development. The early concept of central inlet of

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