The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 08, 2015
Filed:
Nov. 02, 2009
Alan K. Burnham, Livermore, CA (US);
P. Henrik Wallman, Berkeley, CA (US);
James R. Mcconaghy, Salida, CO (US);
Roger L. Day, Rifle, CO (US);
Alan K. Burnham, Livermore, CA (US);
P. Henrik Wallman, Berkeley, CA (US);
James R. McConaghy, Salida, CO (US);
Roger L. Day, Rifle, CO (US);
AMERICAN SHALE OIL, LLC, Denver, CO (US);
Abstract
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.