The Counter Current Solid Streams Heat Transfer (CCSSHT) retort is a new process for efficient oil recovery from our plentiful tar sands and oil shale reserves. As a heat recovery soil incinerator, it has the advantages of reduced fuel demand and low combustion gas product (reducing air pollution control needs for the incinerator). The CCSSHT unit is a single vessel rotating kiln that (1) preheats ore, (2) retorts the ore, (3) generates process heat from the coke combustion, (4) cleans the coke from the sand, (5) recovers the heat from the clean sand, and (6) cools the oil vapor to avoid oil coking. These six functions, all regulated by the kiln and stream flowrates, provide a simple, efficient, and low cost process. Besides producing clean cool ash, the system is also ecologically attractive for use with carbonate ores because it generates less alkaline ash than other processes_the Western U.S. oil shales contain nearly half carbonate minerals. Based on rotary fluidization, the CCSSHT retort is expected to operate nearly as effectively as gas fluidization. Oil recovery is expected to exceed that of ash recycling systems by more than 20%. It enables high efficiency heat recovery from ash in a new approach that avoids the need of capital intensive boilers and power generators. This Phase I study will (1) construct a batch reactor (2 to 8-lb sample size), which will process an element of ore through the stages of heat-up, retorting, coke combustion, and cool-down, thus simulating the CCSSHT continuous-process unit; (2) investigate conditions contributing to high oil yield; (3) investigate the performance of the CCSSHT concept with a variety of ores; and (4) generate heat transfer data for the design of a process development unit. During Phase II the performance of the CCSSHT continuous-flow retort will be demonstrated in a 1 to 5-ton/day process development unit.Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications as described by the awardee:The United States currently imports five million bbls oil/day, seriously affecting our balance of payments and subjecting national security to foreign interest. The CCSSHT process should significantly improve the process economics of bitumen oil recovery and significantly contribute toward our urgent need to make synthetic oil competitive.
