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

^f^bss 3S^S3SSEwil

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

ore and produce 1,590m per day of high

quality syncrude that will be a premium

feedstock for any of the nation's modern

refineries .

Union began the permitting process

in March 1978 and had all federal, state

and local permits for the project in

early 1981, approximately three years

later.

Necessary road work began in the

fall of 1980 and predevelopment mining

operations began in January 1981. On

site construction of the retort and up

grading facility began late in 1981 with

completion of the project planned for

mid-1983.

After completion of the1,590m3

a

day Phase I project, it will be operated

for several months. During this pre

liminary operating phase we expect to

develop process improvements, improve

our environmental controls and secure

further economic data on all aspects

of the project.

Assuming economic conditions are

satisfactory, we will then begin Phase

II development which will bring pro

duction to7,950m3

a day by 1990 and

to14,300m3

a day by 1993.

Our first mine, for Phase I, is

located some 305m above the valley

floor on the north wall of the East

Fork of Parachute Creek. The mine

portals open onto a 2 hectare bench

site, enlarged from a bench carved

out of the mountain at the time of

our operations in the1950'

s.

Room and Pillar Mining

Conventional room and pillar mi

ning will be employed, recovering up

to 70 percent of the shale in the

mine zone and leaving pillars to sup

port the mine roof. The overall mi-

226

ning height of 18.3m will consist of a

top and a bench cut.

In the mining operation, large hy

draulic drills, or"jumbos,"

bore 11cm

diameter holes 7.3m into the mine face.

These holes will subsequently be charged

with ANFO to fragment the oil shale. The

broken material will be loaded at the

face by 11.5 cubic meter capacityfront-

end loaders and and transported to the

underground crushers by 4 5 tonne off-

road trucks. Primary roof support will

be provided by roof bolts.

The ore will undergo two stages of

crushing to reduce it to a size (1.27cm

to 5cm) suitable for retorting.

The ore then will move by conveyor

to the prototype upflow retort, developed

by Union's research staff.

Although quite simple in concept the

retort, as shown in Figure 1, is a large

piece of equipment, standing nearly 46m

above the bench site.

The conveyor will deposit the

crushed ore in the retort feed chute from

which it flows into the solids feeder, or

rock pump. A 3 meter diameter piston then

forces the ore upward into the retort.

The rock pump is mounted on a moveable

carriage and is immersed in shale oil

product, which acts as a hydraulic seal

to maintain the retort pressure and pre

vent escape of produced gas from the shale

feed chute.

Liquid Product

As it rises through the retort cone,

the shale is heated and retorted by the

countercurrent flow of hot recycle gas

which enters the top of the retort. Hy

drocarbons contained in the shale are

converted to gaseous and liquid forms.

Most of the liquid product is removed

from the bottom of the retort and the

balance, in the form of mist, is carried

from the retort by the recycle gases.

As the retorted shale rises above

the edge of the retort cone, it falls

by gravity into two sealing leg shafts

for cooling. These shafts extend into

the bench.

The retorted shale is conveyed

from the seal leg shafts through a

horizontal tunnel to an enclosed chute

for transfer to the valley floor.

There the retorted shale will be

spread, compacted, contoured and veg

etated with native plants to blend in

to the surrounding landscape.

Upflow retorting with indirect

heating of a circulating gas stream

has several important advantages which

can be summarized as follows:

1. Oil liberated from the

shale is forced downward

rapidly toward cooler shale

by the gas flow. This pre

vents polymerization reac

tions which form heavy oil

that is difficult to refine.

2. Gravity assists drainage

of the oil away from the re

torting zone and avoidsre-

fluxing and coking of the

product oil.

3. Retorting takes place

near the top of the retort

where pressure between the

shale particles is minimal.

Agglomeration and pressure

drop buildup can be avoided

and rich shales can be pro

cessed.

4. The high heat capacity

of the gas and high gas/

solids heat transfer rates

combined with a positive

solids flow permit operation

at exceptionally high mass

velocities.

As indicated in Figure 1 , gases

from the disengaging section are

227

scrubbed and cooled in a venturi scrubber.

Agglomerated mist plus light ends and

water produced by cooling are sent to an

oil/water separator. The oil is recy

cled to the retort at the oil shale feed

chutes and the water is sent to the water

seal after stripping to remove ammonia.

The scrubbed gas is divided into a make

stream and a recycle stream. The recycle

stream is compressed and heated prior to

injection into the top of the retort.

High Quality Gas Product

The make gas stream will be pro

cessed for sulfur removal after which it

will be used as fuel for the recycle

heater and generate steam for the large

drivers. The treated make gas is a high

quality gas product, about 31,700kJ/m .

There is sufficient make gas to supply

almost all fuel gas requirements in the

retort.

After solids suspended in the raw

shale oil are removed, the shale oil will

be transported by pipeline to the upgra

ding facility eight miles south of the

retort. There, using Union's Unicracking/

DW process, impurities will be removed

and the crude shale oil will be converted

into a synthetic crude oil with qualities

superior to most natural crude oil. It

will then be transported to conventional

refining facilities to be converted into

a full range of petroleum products.

Union's extensive pioneering invest

ment in oil from shale has been recog

nized by the U. S. Government. In July

1981, the company was the first to be

awarded a contract under a Department of

Energy program designed to encourage the

development of commercial shale oil pro

duction in this country.

Beginning with actual shale oil pro

duction, expected in mid- 198 3, Union's

contract with the DOE calls for delivery

of480m3

per day of military aircraft

turbine fuel and 1,100m3

per day of

diesel to the Department of Defense.

The price at the time of delivery to

DOD will be the market price or a con

tract floor price, indexed for infla

tion.

Current Status

This project will be carried

through to its conclusion and the sig

nificant construction on Union's Para

chute Creek Shale Oil Program that has

taken place in the past 16 months

should dispel any lingering doubts.

Up to 1,700 contractor and Union Oil

employees have been engaged in opening

the mine, building foundations, erect

ing hardware and constructing roads,

housing and other facilities necessary

to the project.

Construction mining was essential

ly completed late in 1981 with some

544,200 tonnes of rock removed. Under

ground space for a mine office, shops,

a warehouse , primary and secondary

crushers and a conveyor system was

developed using conventional drill and

blast mining techniques. Construction

of these underground facilities is now

in progress as shown in Figure 2.

On the bench, shafts for the

horizontal adits connecting the seal

ing legs to an opening in the canyon

wall are completed. Construction of

the recycle gas heater is well ad

vanced. The foundation for the re

tort has been poured and construction

of the retort, which will stand nearly

46m above the bench floor, is now in

progress. It should be noted that

this retort is as large as we consider

technologically and economically fea

sible to build at this time. Thus a

14,300m-a day operation, for exam

ple, would require nine such retorts,

each a self-contained, fully commer-

228

cial unit.

Non-Stop Construction

At the upgrading plant, major foun

dations have been poured and installation

of processing units is underway. The

Unicracking/DW reactor vessels, the lar

gest of which stands just under 30m tall,

are on site and have been installed.

These important upgrading plant components

were shipped by rail to the town of Para

chute, then moved the last few miles by

truck and trailer and lifted into posi

tion with giant cranes.

Construction on the project has con

tinued during the winter months, despite

frequent sub-zero weather, icy conditions

and numerous snow storms.

The many permits Union had to secure

to be able to start construction of the

Phase I project included several detailed

environmental permits. The two principal

permits required were the Prevention of

Significant Deterioration (PSD) Permit

from the U. S. Environmental Protection

Agency and the Mining and Reclamation Per

mit from the Colorado Mined Land Reclama

tion Board.

To obtain the PSD permit, Union had

to prove to the EPA that its operation

would not significantly impact air quali

ty in the region of the plant. This re

quired using the best available control

technology on plant emission streams,

including bag houses to remove dust from

mine ventilation emissions and a Unisulf

unit to recover sulfur from the make gas

before it is used as a retort plant fuel.

To secure the permit from the Colo

rado Mined Land Reclamation Board, Union

demonstrated that land affected by its

operations could be reclaimed in a manner

acceptable to the state. The top 3m

layer of the retorted shale pile is

highly compacted so that water infiltra

tion in the pile will not be a problem

and contaminate ground or surface

water. Any water that drains from the

retorted shale will be caught in a

drainage pond and reused on the pro

ject.

The shale pile will be revegetated

with a mixture of native plants. Ex

tensive revegetation tests assure us

that retorted shale can sustain plants

native to the area.

Water

For the industry as a whole, most

studies indicate that water availabil

ity, based on current technology, may

place an upper limit of206,700m3

a

day on sustained shale oil production.

Union believes that once the first com

mercial plants are on stream a more

accurate assessment of water require

ments and availability can be esta

blished. We are also confident that

industry will develop technology to

reduce the demand for water in the

retorting and upgrading processes.

Union's Phase I retort and up

grading facility will require between

two and three barrels of water for

each barrel of syncrude produced. By

comparison, in a conventional thermal

electric power generating plant, ten

barrels of water are required for

each barrel of oil, or its coal equiv

alent converted to electricity.

Water for the first l,590m3per

day phase of Union's project will be

taken from wells on Union's property

and will be recycled to minimize water

requirements . As future retorts and

process facilities are constructed,

water also will be drawn from the

Colorado River, where Union has long-

established water rights.

From the inception of this pro

ject, Union has recognized the sub

stantial impacts on housing and public

229

services that the rapid influx of em

ployees and their families would have on

the town of Parachute and other communi

ties in sparsely populated Garfield Coun

ty. Besides housing, these include water

and sewer systems, public safety, schools,

recreational facilities, highways and

public administration. The population of

the Parachute area, for example, has

grown from about 300 in early 1981 to an

estimated 1,200.

with completion of the project, fi

nally become a reality. Unforeseen

problems may continue to arise. These

will be met, however, and lead to more

efficient future shale oil projects.

While shale oil will not solve all of

the nation's energy problems, it will

make a significant contribution to the

solution.

Socioeconomic Mitigation

To meet these people problems , Union

already has expended or committed $60

million through 1983 to help alleviate

the project's socioeconomic impact in

Garfield County. As part of this program

Union has built over 350 apartment units,

condominiums and mobile home units.

Union also has constructed single wor

ker's housing near Parachute to accom

modate 750 workers during the construc

tion phase of the project.

Also included is $4.2 million of

early financial assistance for a new

middle school to serve Parachute and ad

joining areas of Garfield County. Roads,

land for a new administration building,

sewers, direct subsidy of local and coun

ty public safety personnel and equipment

and funds for other requirements have,

in large measure, mitigated the immediate

burden on limited town and county tax

revenues. Once the project is on the tax

rolls, adequate funds should be available

to maintain and improve services without

direct assistance from the private sector.

We believe most of the socioeconomic

problems related to our project have been

addressed. At the same time, Union will

continue to work closely with local and

county officials to mitigate new problems

as expeditiously as possible.

In conclusion, Union is confident

that production of oil from shale will,

230