UNION OIL COMPANY'S PARACHUTE CREEK SHALE OIL PROGRAM Allen C. Randle, Vice President, Oil Shale Operations Brian F. McGunegle, Manager, Technical Services UNION ENERGY MINING DIVISION UNION OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA ABSTRACT Union Oil Company is developing the first commercial shale oil project in the United States. Union began construction in early 1981 on properties located in the Parachute Creek area of the Piceance Basin in Garfield County. A 11,350 tonne per day room and pil lar mine and a surface retort will pro duce 1,590m3 of raw shale oil per day. A 3 1,590m a day upgrading facility is also under construction and will convert the raw shale oil into a high quality syn- crude. This 1,590m3 a day project is planned for completion in mid-1983. It is the first phase of a major shale oil project that will produce 14,300m3 per day of shale oil when completed in 1993. The paper describes Union's mining methods and the upflow retort developed by Union's Science and Technology Divi sion. It also describes the upgrading process that will convert shale oil into a syncrude acceptable to today's refi neries. A discussion of the current status of the project also is included. HISTORY Union Oil Company began acquiring oil shale properties in 1920, more than 6 0 years ago. In the Parachute Creek area of Garfield County, Union owns 8,093 hectares of oil shale lands containing some 254 million m3 of recoverable oil in the high-yield Mahogany zone alone. These reserves are large enough to produce some 15,900m3 of shale oil per day for over 40 years. Since the early 1940' s, Union's research scientists and engineers have conducted a wide variety of laboratory and field studies for developing tech nically, environmentally and economi cally feasible methods of producing usable oils from shale. In the 1940 's, Union operated a small, 45 tonne-per- day pilot retort at its Los Angeles refinery. From 1955 to 1958, Union built and operated an upflow retort in Parachute Creek, processing up to 1,090 tonnes of ore per day and produ- 3 cing up to 127m of shale oil per day. The low price of crude oil forced Union to suspend actual develop ment at that time, but research efforts to further improve Union's unique up flow retort process continued. Following the oil shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo in 1973 and the ensuing rapid rise in world oil prices, Union accelerated its ef forts to achieve commercial production of this vast resource. Phase I Union announced plans in early 1978 to build the first phase of a project to develop the first commer cial shale oil complex in the nation. This Phase I project includes a mine, retort and upgrading facility that will process 11,350 tonnes per day of 224
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UNION OIL COMPANY'S PARACHUTE CREEK SHALE OIL PROGRAM
Allen C. Randle, Vice President, Oil Shale Operations
Brian F. McGunegle, Manager, Technical Services
UNION ENERGY MINING DIVISION
UNION OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA
ABSTRACT
Union Oil Company is developing the
first commercial shale oil project in the
United States. Union began construction
in early 1981 on properties located in
the Parachute Creek area of the Piceance
Basin in Garfield County.
A 11,350 tonne per day room and pil
lar mine and a surface retort will pro
duce 1,590m3of raw shale oil per day. A
31,590m a day upgrading facility is also
under construction and will convert the
raw shale oil into a high qualitysyn-
crude.
This1,590m3
a day project is planned
for completion in mid-1983. It is the
first phase of a major shale oil project
that will produce14,300m3
per day of
shale oil when completed in 1993.
The paper describes Union's mining
methods and the upflow retort developed
by Union's Science and Technology Divi
sion. It also describes the upgrading
process that will convert shale oil into
a syncrude acceptable to today's refi
neries. A discussion of the current
status of the project also is included.
HISTORY
Union Oil Company began acquiring
oil shale properties in 1920, more than
6 0 years ago. In the Parachute Creek
area of Garfield County, Union owns 8,093
hectares of oil shale lands containing
some 254 millionm3
of recoverable oil in
the high-yield Mahogany zone alone. These
reserves are large enough to produce some
15,900m3of shale oil per day for
over 40 years.
Since the early1940'
s, Union's
research scientists and engineers have
conducted a wide variety of laboratory
and field studies for developing tech
nically, environmentally and economi
cally feasible methods of producing
usable oils from shale. In the 1940 's,
Union operated a small, 45 tonne-per-
day pilot retort at its Los Angeles
refinery. From 1955 to 1958, Union
built and operated an upflow retort in
Parachute Creek, processing up to
1,090 tonnes of ore per day andprodu-
3cing up to 127m of shale oil per
day. The low price of crude oil
forced Union to suspend actual develop
ment at that time, but research efforts
to further improve Union's unique up
flow retort process continued.
Following the oil shortages
caused by the Arab oil embargo in 1973
and the ensuing rapid rise in world
oil prices, Union accelerated its ef
forts to achieve commercial production
of this vast resource.
Phase I
Union announced plans in early
1978 to build the first phase of a
project to develop the first commer
cial shale oil complex in the nation.
This Phase I project includes a mine,
retort and upgrading facility that
will process 11,350 tonnes per day of
224
UNION UPFLOW RETORT
RAW SHALE I
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Figure 1. UPFLOW RETORT PROCESS -- This simplified schematic drawing of Union Oil
Company's upflow shale oil retort illustrates the basic process developed by Union
Oil scientists to extract shale oil from shale ore. Construction is underway on the
first phase of a 90,000 barrel a day (14,300ms
) shale oil complex in western Colorado ,
The crushed shale ore is pushed upward into the 150- foot-high (46m) retort by a 10-
foot-diameter (3m) piston. Hot gas enters the top of the retort and heats the shale
ore to 900F. (482C. ) , vaporizing and releasing the shale oil contained in the rock.
The vaporized shale oil is then condensed by contact with entering cold shale and
is drawn off as a liquid through slots at the bottom of the retort. Additional li
quids are removed in a gas /oil separator and the shale oil moves to storage .
Gas produced in the process is used to reheat the recycle gas and the process begins
anew. The retorted or spent shale ore is cooled and moved to the disposal area,
where it will be revegetated to blend with the natural environment .
225
Figure 2. Artist's concept of Union Oil's mining and retorting complex on Long Ridge