Shell in situ conversion process
{{Infobox industrial process
| name = Shell ICP
| image = Shell insitu.gif
| caption = Shell's experimental in-situ oil shale facility, Piceance Basin, Colorado.
| type = chemical
| sector = chemical industry, oil industry
| technologies =
| feedstock = oil shale
| product = shale oil
| companies = Shell Oil Company
| facility = Mahogany Research Project
| inventor =
| year =
| developer = Shell Oil Company
}}
The Shell in situ conversion process (Shell ICP) is an in situ shale oil extraction technology to convert kerogen in oil shale to shale oil. It is developed by the Shell Oil Company.
History
Shell's in situ conversion process has been under development since the early 1980s.
{{Cite book
| last1 = Bartis | first1 = James T.
| last2 =LaTourrette | first2 = Tom
| last3 = Dixon | first3 =Lloyd
| last4 = Peterson | first4 =D.J.
| last5 = Cecchine | first5 = Gary
| title = Oil Shale Development in the United States. Prospects and Policy Issues. Prepared for the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the United States Department of Energy
| publisher = The RAND Corporation
| year = 2005
| url = http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG414.pdf
| isbn = 978-0-8330-3848-7
| accessdate =2007-06-29}}
In 1997, the first small scale test was conducted on the {{convert|30|by|40|ft|adj=on}} Mahogany property test site, located {{convert|200|mi|km|-1}} west of Denver on Colorado's Western Slope in the Piceance Creek Basin. Since 2000, additional research and development activities have carried on as a part of the Mahogany Research Project. The oil shale heating at Mahogany started early 2004.
{{Cite news
|newspaper = WIRED magazine
|title=Tapping the Rock Field
|first = Spencer | last = Reiss
|date=2005-12-13
|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.12/oilshale.html
|accessdate=2009-03-14}}
From this test site, Shell has recovered {{convert|1700|oilbbl}} of shale oil.
{{Cite news
|newspaper = The Aspen Times
|title= Shell produces 1,700 barrels of oil from Piceance shale
|first = John |last = Colson
|date=2012-03-02
|url= http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120302/NEWS/120309971/1077&ParentProfile=1058
|accessdate=2012-03-12}}
Process
File:Shell Freeze Wall Oil Shale.png
The process heats sections of the vast oil shale field in situ, releasing the shale oil and oil shale gas from the rock so that it can be pumped to the surface and made into fuel. In this process, a freeze wall is first to be constructed to isolate the processing area from surrounding groundwater. To maximize the functionality of the freeze walls, adjacent working zones will be developed in succession. {{convert|2000|ft|m|0}} wells, eight feet apart, are drilled and filled with a circulating super-chilled liquid to cool the ground to {{convert|-60|°F|°C|-1}}.
{{Cite book
| last =Speight | first = James G.
| title = Synthetic Fuels Handbook: Properties, Process, and Performance
| publisher = McGraw-Hill Professional
| pages = 186
| year = 2008
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=E3pgqnGgHjIC&dq=shell+in+situ+conversion+process&pg=PA186
| isbn = 978-0-07-149023-8
| accessdate = 2009-03-14}}
Water is then removed from the working zone. Heating and recovery wells are drilled at {{convert|40|ft|m}} intervals within the working zone. Electrical heating elements are lowered into the heating wells and used to heat oil shale to between {{convert|650|°F|°C|-1}} and {{convert|700|°F|°C|-1}} over a period of approximately four years.
{{Cite book
| last1 = Lee | first1 = Sunggyu
| last2 =Speight | first2 = James G.
| last3 = Loyalka | first3 =Sudarshan K.
| title = Handbook of Alternative Fuel Technologies
| publisher = CRC Press
| pages = 290
| year = 2007
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hyNbv60Px8oC&dq=shell+in+situ+conversion+process&pg=PA290
| isbn = 978-0-8247-4069-6
| accessdate = 2009-03-14}}
Kerogen in oil shale is slowly converted into shale oil and gases, which then flow to the surface through recovery wells.
{{Cite report
|publisher=United States Department of Energy
|title=Secure Fuels from Domestic Resources: The Continuing Evolution of America's Oil Shale and Tar Sands Industries
|pages= 62–63
|edition = 5th
|date=September 2011
|url= http://www.unconventionalfuels.org/publications/reports/SecureFuelsReport2011.pdf
|accessdate=2012-03-12}}
Energy consumption
A RAND study in 2005 estimated that production of {{convert|100,000|oilbbl/d}} of oil (5.4 million tons/year) would theoretically require a dedicated power generating capacity of 1.2 gigawatts (10 billion kWh/year), assuming deposit richness of {{convert|25|USgal}} per ton, with 100% pyrolysis efficiency, and 100% extraction of pyrolysis products. If this amount of electricity were to be generated by a coal-fired power plant, it would consume five million ton of coal annually (about 2.2 million toe).
{{Cite book
| last = Farkas| first = Tamas
| title = The Investor's Guide to the Energy Revolution
| publisher = Lulu.com
| pages = 85
| year = 2008
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=luKukIWzRIgC&dq=shell+in+situ+conversion+process&pg=PA85
| isbn = 978-1-4092-0285-1
| accessdate = 2009-03-14}}
In 2006, Shell estimated that over the project life cycle, for every unit of energy consumed, three to four units would be produced. Such an "energy returned on energy invested" would be significantly better than that achieved in the Mahogany trials. For the 1996 trial, Shell applied 440,000 kWh (which would require about 96 toe energy input in a coal-fired plant), to generate {{convert|250|oilbbl}} of oil (37 toe output).
{{cite patent|country=US|number=6,789,625|title=In situ thermal processing of a hydrocarbon containing formation using exposed metal heat source|status=application|pubdate=|fdate=2001-04-24|pridate=|gdate=2004-09-14|inventor=Eric de Rouffignac, Harold Vinegar, et al.|invent1=|invent2=|assign1=Shell Oil|assign2=|class=}} See discussions related to Figs. 104, 175, and 176.
Environmental impacts
Shell's underground conversion process requires significant development on the surface. The separation between drilled wells is less than five meters and wells must be connected by electrical wiring and by piping to storage and processing facilities. Shell estimates that the footprint of extraction operations would be similar to that for conventional oil and gas drilling.
{{cite web
|title = Oil Shale Test Project. Oil Shale Research and Development Project
|publisher = Shell Frontier Oil and Gas Inc.
|date = 2006-02-15
|url = http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/co/field_offices/white_river_field/oil_shale.Par.79837.File.dat/OSTPlanofOperations.pdf
|accessdate = 2007-06-30
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080527234119/http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/co/field_offices/white_river_field/oil_shale.Par.79837.File.dat/OSTPlanofOperations.pdf
|archivedate = 2008-05-27
}}
However, the dimensions of Shell's 2005 trial indicate that a much larger footprint is required. Production of 50,000 bbl/day would require that land be developed at a rate on the order of {{convert|1|km2}} per year.The trial produced a total of 1800 barrels over the course of a year from wells spaced over an area of {{convert|100|m2}}. For 50,000 bbl/day, the calculated land area per year is 365*50,000*100/1800 = 1 million m2, or 1 km2.
Extensive water use and the risk of groundwater pollution are the technology's greatest challenges.
{{cite journal
|first = Jon
|last = Birger
|title = Oil shale may finally have its moment
|journal = Fortune
|date = 2007-11-01
|url = https://money.cnn.com/2007/10/30/magazines/fortune/Oil_from_stone.fortune/
|accessdate = 2007-11-17
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071118023837/http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/30/magazines/fortune/Oil_from_stone.fortune/
|archivedate = 2007-11-18
}}
Current implementations
In 2006, Shell received a Bureau of Land Management lease to pursue a large demonstration with a capacity of {{convert|1,500|oilbbl/d}}; Shell has since dropped those plans and is planning a test based on ICP that would produce a total of minimum {{convert|1,500|oilbbl}}, together with nahcolite, over a seven-year period.
{{cite web
| title=NEPA approval DOI-BLM-CO-110-2011-0042-DNA
|year=2011
|url=http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/co/information/nepa/white_river_field/completed_2011_documents1.Par.99394.File.dat/doiblmco11020110042dna.pdf
| publisher = Bureau of Land Management
| page = 2
| accessdate = 2011-10-10}}
{{cite journal
| title=Oil Shale Update
| publisher = National Oil Shale Association
|date=June 2011
| issue = 1 | volume = 4
| url=http://www.oilshaleassoc.org/documents/OSU6-11.pdf
| page = 2
| accessdate = 2011-10-10}}
In Israel, IEI, a subsidiary of IDT Corp. is planning a shale pilot based on ICP technology. The project would produce a total of 1,500 barrels. However, IEI has also announced that any subsequent projects would not use ICP technology, but would instead utilize horizontal wells and hot gas heating methods.{{cite web | title=IEI Report, Shfela Oil Shale Pilot | date=October 2010 | url=http://www.iei-energy.co.il/IEI/files/c8/c88e0767-9251-4fdf-8e49-966b0c958d45.pdf| page=18}}
In Jordan, Shell subsidiary JOSCO plans to use ICP technology to achieve commercial production by the "late 2020s."
{{cite web
|title = JOSCO Journey
|url = http://www.josco.jo/joscos-journey.html
|publisher = JOSCO
|accessdate = 2012-03-12
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120414204249/http://www.josco.jo/joscos-journey.html
|archivedate = 2012-04-14
}}
In October, 2011, it was reported that JOSCO had drilled more than 100 test holes over the prior two years, apparently for the sake of testing shale samples.
{{cite news
| title= Shell: More Than 100 Oil Wells Drilled in Jordan in 2 Years
| url= http://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=111507
|first = Hassan |last = Hafidh
| agency = Dow Jones Newswires
| date=2011-10-05
| accessdate = 2012-03-12}}
The Mahogany Oil Shale Project has been abandoned by Shell in 2013 due to unfavorable project economics Denver Post. Available in:
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20111016112000/http://www.shell.us/home/content/usa/aboutshell/projects_locations/mahogany/ Mahogany Research Project]
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{{shell oil}}