HIGH EFFICIENCY TAR SAND OIL RECOVERY

THE COUNTER CURRENT SOLID STREAMS HEAT TRANSFER (CCSSHT) RETORT IS A TAR SAND BITUMEN OIL RECOVERY CONCEPT THAT ENABLES MULTIPLE FEATURES OF EFFICIENCY, ECONOMY AND MITIGATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. THE HIGH EFFICIENCY DERIVES PRIMARILY FROM THE FACTS THAT THE CCSSHT SYSTEM (1) RECOVERS THE SPENT SAND HEAT TO PREHEAT THE FEED ORE, (2) THOROUGHLY BURNS AND USES THE COKE ENERGY AND (3) OPERATES WITHOUT USING HOT RECYCLE SAND AS A HEAT CARRIER. THE LATTER FEATURE IS DOUBLY IMPORTANT, CONTRIBUTING TO HIGH OILYIELD AND TO THE GENERATION OF REACTIVE COKE WHICH CAN BE THOROUGHLY BURNED BELOW 1000F WHEN CARBONATE MINERALS ARE PRESENT, TO AVOID ENDOTHERMAL CALCINATION OF THE CARBONATES. THE ROTARY RETORT ACHIEVES THE MULTI-OPERATION PROCESS IN A SINGLE VESSEL WHICH CUTS 70% OFF THE OPERATION AND EQUIPMENT COSTS OF SOME LESS EFFICIENT PROCESSES. THE CCSSHT RETORT HELPS TO MITIGATE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS IN SEVEN IMPORTANT AREAS. THESE ARE (1) 80% REDUCED ATMOSPHERIC CONTAMINATING COMBUSTION PRODUCTS, (2) VIRTUAL ELIMINATION OF CARBONATE CALCINATION CO2 (AN ATMOSPHERE CONTAMINANT) AND (3) ASH THAT IS THOROUGHLY CLEANED OF COKE,(4) THAT HAS LOW ALKALI CONTENT, (5) THAT HAS RELATIVELY COARSE PARTICLE SIZE AND (6) IS COOL WHEN EJECTED TO THE ENVIRONMENT. FINALLY, (7) SINCE SOLID-TO-SOLID HEAT TRANSFER USES NO WATER, CCSSHT WILL ALSO CONSERVE WATER. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROPOSED PHASE I PROJECT IS TO OBTAIN DATA FOR THE DESIGN AND OPERATION OF ONE PART OF THE CCSSHT PROCESS DEVELOPMENT KILN, THE GAS LOCK, AND TO DEMONSTRATE THE GAS LOCK FUNCTIONALITY WITH A COLD FLOW STUDY IN A SMALLPLASTIC ROTARY VESSEL. SUBSEQUENT TO THIS PHASE I PROJECT, PHASES II AND III WILL CONSTRUCT A PROTOTYPE PROCESS RETORT AND DEMONSTRATE WITH A CONTINUOUS PROCESSING UNIT THE CLAIMSOF HIGH EFFICIENCY, LOW COST AND OTHER ADVANTAGES.