Chevron Research Company

University of California

American Shale Oil, LLC

P Henrik Wallman

Byron G Spars

Paul W Tamm

George E Vogtlin

Robert J Klett

Bernardino M Penetrante

Bernard T Merritt

Mark C Hsiao

Robert Scott Glass

Joel W Rosenthal

Roger L Day

Alan K Burnham

James R McConaghy

Robert P Sieg

James Richard Ouimette

Ai-Quoc Pham

Heaters are presented to aid in the recovery of hydrocarbon from underground deposits. A heater is provided to a well that has been drilled through an oil-shale deposit. A fuel and an oxidizer are provided to the heater and flue gases are recovered. The heater has a counterflow design and provides a nearly uniform temperature along the heater length. The heater may be designed to operate at different temperatures and depths to pyrolyze or otherwise heat underground hydrocarbon deposits to form a product that is easily recovered and which is useful without substantial further processing. Various counterflow heaters are described including heaters having, down the heater length, distributed reaction zones, distributed catalytic oxidation of the fuel, and discrete or continuous heat generation. The heaters may also utilize inert gases from product recovery or from heater flue gases to control the heater temperature.

Heater and method for recovering hydrocarbons from underground deposits

An efficient method of producing hydrogen by high temperature steam electrolysis that will lower the electricity consumption to an estimated 65 percent lower than has been achievable with previous steam electrolyzer systems. This is accomplished with a natural gas-assisted steam electrolyzer, which significantly reduces the electricity consumption. Since this natural gas-assisted steam electrolyzer replaces one unit of electrical energy by one unit of energy content in natural gas at one-quarter the cost, the hydrogen production cost will be significantly reduced. Also, it is possible to vary the ratio between the electricity and the natural gas supplied to the system in response to fluctuations in relative prices for these two energy sources. In one approach an appropriate catalyst on the anode side of the electrolyzer will promote the partial oxidation of natural gas to CO and hydrogen, called Syn-Gas, and the CO can also be shifted to CO.sub.2 to give additional hydrogen. In another approach the natural gas is used in the anode side of the electrolyzer to burn out the oxygen resulting from electrolysis, thus reducing or eliminating the potential difference across the electrolyzer membrane.

Natural gas-assisted steam electrolyzer

Non-thermal plasma gas treatment is combined with selective catalytic reduction to enhance NO.sub.x reduction in oxygen-rich vehicle engine exhausts.

Catalytic reduction system for oxygen-rich exhaust

Reduction of NO.sub.x from diesel engine exhaust by use of plasma-regenerated absorbent beds. This involves a process for the reduction of NO.sub.x and particulates from diesel engines by first absorbing NO.sub.x onto a solid absorbent bed that simultaneously acts as a physical trap for the particulate matter, and second regenerating said solid absorbent by pulsed plasma decomposition of absorbed NO.sub.x followed by air oxidation of trapped particulate matter. The absorbent bed may utilize all metal oxides, but the capacity and the kinetics of absorption and desorption vary between different materials, and thus the composition of the absorbent bed is preferably a material which enables the combination of NO.sub.x absorption capability with catalytic activity for oxidation of hydrocarbons. Thus, naturally occurring or synthetically prepared materials may be utilized, particularly those having NO.sub.x absorption properties up to temperatures around 400.degree. C. which is in the area of diesel engine exhaust temperatures.

Diesel NO.sub.x reduction by plasma-regenerated absorbend beds

Plasma-assisted catalytic reduction system

In accordance with the present invention, a constraint dependent control method and system for a large scale refinery, chemical process or the like, is provided that allows on-line optimization of one and preferably two plant inputs without need for optimal set points, through iterative generation of a constraint dependent control code normalized to present time t for 'driving' the optimized plant inputs rapidly toward optimization but without destabilizing the plant. The generation of such control code includes evaluation of certain key components associated with elements of an optimizing and stabilizing control vector (OSC) from which the code is derived.

Minimum time, optimizing and stabilizing multivariable control method

Burned oil shale recycled as heat transfer solids in retorting process conditioned under reducing conditions with hydrocarbon to improve product yield.

Conditioning of recycle shale in retorting process

A heavy oil fraction of pyrolysis oil vapors containing concentrated contaminants is coked on the hot mixture of pyrolyzed solids and heat transfer material in a retorting vessel provided with an inert stripping gas of a velocity sufficient to lower the dew point of the pyrolysis oil.

Process for improving quality of pyrolysis oil from oil shales and tar

Heavy oil fraction of pyrolysis oil vapors containing concentrated contaminants is coked on retorted fine solids contained in a coking zone separate from a retorting vessel characterized by the presence of an inert stripping gas of a rate sufficient to lower the dew point of the pyrolysis oil.

Coking contaminated oil shale or tar sand oil on retorted solid fines

The steam content and pressure of a recycled steam/hydrocarbon gas mixture in an oil shale retorting process is raised by high quality makeup steam producing a retort stripping gas of high efficiency (high oil yield) with minimal water consumption.

Steam recycle used as stripping gas in oil shale retorting

The heavy oil fraction of pyrolysis oil vapors containing concentrated contaminants is coked on hot heat transfer material. The coke-containing heat transfer material is then mixed with raw feed in a retorting vessel provided with an inert stripping gas of a velocity sufficient to lower the dew point of the pyrolysis oil.

Process for coking contaminated pyrolysis oil on heat transfer material

A reactor vessel for maintaining a staged moving bed of solids, in the presence of countercurrently flowing gas stream, having a diameter of at least one meter and a pressure drop across the body of solids approximately equal to that of a fully fluidized bed and a method for using same to thermally process a granular solid composed of a broad distribution of particle sizes.

Reactor vessel and process for thermally treating a granular solid

A process and apparatus for retorting a hydrocarbonaceous solids using a fluidized bed of heat-transfer material above a packed bed.

Retorting process for hydrocarbonaceous solids

Heat transfer particles of fluidizable size are selected for recycling to the pyrolysis zone to broaden usable size range of oil shale feed. These recycle particles should all be of a fluidizable size and when mixed with the raw oil shale the total amount of fluidizable particles should comprise not less than about 60 weight percent of the particles in the mixture. This process is especially useful when the heat transfer material is recycled oil shale particles. The present invention is particularly advantageous when the oil shale is pyrolyzed in a vertical retorting vessel containing a fluidized bed above a packed bed of particles.

Recycle classifier for retorting oil shale

Particulate hydrocarbonaceous feed mixed with heat-transfer solids in chute with spouting gas and weir prior to introduction into packed bed for retorting.

Growing community of inventors

Berkeley, CA, United States of America

P Henrik Wallman