A pilot investigation of pyrolysis from oil and gas extraction from oil shale by in-situ superheated steam injection

2020 ◽  
Vol 186 ◽  
pp. 106785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiqin Kang ◽  
Yangsheng Zhao ◽  
Dong Yang ◽  
Lijun Tian ◽  
Xiang Li
Keyword(s):  
Oil Shale ◽  
Superheated Steam ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Steam Injection ◽  
Gas Extraction ◽  
Pilot Investigation

scholarly journals Cyclic Subcritical Water Injection into Bazhenov Oil Shale: Geochemical and Petrophysical Properties Evolution Due to Hydrothermal Exposure

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4570
Author(s):  
Aman Turakhanov ◽  
Albina Tsyshkova ◽  
Elena Mukhina ◽  
Evgeny Popov ◽  
Darya Kalacheva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Subcritical Water ◽  
Pore Space ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Microstructural Properties ◽  
Gas Generation ◽  
Geochemical Parameters

In situ shale or kerogen oil production is a promising approach to developing vast oil shale resources and increasing world energy demand. In this study, cyclic subcritical water injection in oil shale was investigated in laboratory conditions as a method for in situ oil shale retorting. Fifteen non-extracted oil shale samples from Bazhenov Formation in Russia (98 °C and 23.5 MPa reservoir conditions) were hydrothermally treated at 350 °C and in a 25 MPa semi-open system during 50 h in the cyclic regime. The influence of the artificial maturation on geochemical parameters, elastic and microstructural properties was studied. Rock-Eval pyrolysis of non-extracted and extracted oil shale samples before and after hydrothermal exposure and SARA analysis were employed to analyze bitumen and kerogen transformation to mobile hydrocarbons and immobile char. X-ray computed microtomography (XMT) was performed to characterize the microstructural properties of pore space. The results demonstrated significant porosity, specific pore surface area increase, and the appearance of microfractures in organic-rich layers. Acoustic measurements were carried out to estimate the alteration of elastic properties due to hydrothermal treatment. Both Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio decreased due to kerogen transformation to heavy oil and bitumen, which remain trapped before further oil and gas generation, and expulsion occurs. Ultimately, a developed kinetic model was applied to match kerogen and bitumen transformation with liquid and gas hydrocarbons production. The nonlinear least-squares optimization problem was solved during the integration of the system of differential equations to match produced hydrocarbons with pyrolysis derived kerogen and bitumen decomposition.

CHANGES IN OIL SHALE CHARACTERISTICS DURING SIMULATED IN-SITU PYROLYSIS IN SUPERHEATED STEAM

Oil Shale ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 230 ◽  
Author(s):  
L WANG ◽  
D YANG ◽  
J ZHAO ◽  
Y ZHAO ◽  
Z KANG
Keyword(s):  
Oil Shale ◽  
Superheated Steam

A calculation model about reservoir thermal efficiency of in-situ upgrading for oil shale via steam injection

2020 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 107267
Author(s):  
Yang Zheng ◽  
Guanglun Lei ◽  
Chuanjin Yao ◽  
Jingang Fu ◽  
Long Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Efficiency ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Steam Injection ◽  
Calculation Model

scholarly journals Thermodynamic mechanism evaluate the feasibility of oil shale pyrolysis by topochemical heat

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuai Zhao ◽  
Xiaoshu Lü ◽  
Youhong Sun ◽  
Jiandong Huang
Keyword(s):  
Transition State ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Main Stage ◽  
Oil Shale Pyrolysis ◽  
Heat Method

AbstractTopochemical heat in-situ pyrolysis of oil shale is achieved by injecting high temperature nitrogen to promote oil shale pyrolysis and release heat, and then injecting air to trigger oil shale combustion in the early stage of oil shale pyrolysis, and then by injecting normal temperature air continuously to promote local oxidation of oil shale in the later stage. In order to verify the oil and gas recovery by topochemical heat method, Jilin University has chosen Fuyu City, Jilin Province, to carry out pilot project of oil shale in-situ pyrolysis by topochemical heat method. Besides, in order to infer the spontaneity, feasibility and difficulty of continuous pyrolysis of oil shale based on topochemical heat, this paper, the mechanism of solid-state pyrolysis and the thermodynamic analysis of transition state of oil shale in Fuyu area are discussed. Because the second stage of oil shale pyrolysis is the main stage of oil production. Therefore, the characteristics of Gibbs free energy, free enthalpy and free entropy of transition state in the main oil production stage of oil shale pyrolysis are obtained by calculation. The results show that in situ pyrolysis of oil shale topochemical heat can be carried out spontaneously and continuously, and the release characteristics of volatiles during pyrolysis of oil shale are described.

Application Prospects in China of Oil Shale In Situ Mining Method and an Improved Method

2014 ◽  
Vol 535 ◽  
pp. 602-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gui Jie Zhao ◽  
Chen Chen ◽  
Fang Qian
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Outlet Channel ◽  
Heat Efficiency ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
New Energy ◽  
Development And Utilization ◽  
Mining Methods

Oil shale resources is a new energy has a huge potential for development, as the complement and alternative energy of the oil and gas, more and more people pay attention to it. China's oil shale resources are widely distributed and reserves are huge, but current mining methods are still primitive, mainly to direct exploitation, exploitation efficiency is low and ecological damage is serious, it will be replaced by in-situ mining methods in the future. This paper summarizes the research of oil shale in situ mining, aims at the problems of that the conduction of heat efficiency is low and the outlet channel is less which exist in the in-situ mining at the present, and put forward the concept of in-situ broken that is using some methods to make the oil shale change from huge to small block in the initial stage of the in-situmining, further in-situ heating, mining of oil shale，and put forward the method of in-situ noncontact wind breaking oil shale, this method using the crushing wind to break the oil shale, having high feasibility. This paper did in-depth research on the in-situ mining, and it can provide a reference for the development and utilization of oil shale resources.

Uncertainty Quantification of an Explicitly Coupled Multiphysics Simulation of In-Situ Pyrolysis by Radio Frequency Heating in Oil Shale

SPE Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (03) ◽  
pp. 1443-1461
Author(s):  
Travis Ramsay
Keyword(s):  
Radio Frequency ◽  
Uncertainty Quantification ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Polynomial Chaos ◽  
Epistemic Uncertainty ◽  
Rf Heating ◽  
Commercial Development ◽  
Mc Simulation

Summary In-situ pyrolysis provides an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique for exploiting oil and gas from oil shale by converting in-place solid kerogen into liquid oil and gas. Radio-frequency (RF) heating of the in-place oil shale has previously been proposed as a method by which the electromagnetic energy gets converted to thermal energy, thereby heating in-situ kerogen so that it converts to oil and gas. In order to numerically model the RF heating of the in-situ oil shale, a novel explicitly coupled thermal, phase field, mechanical, and electromagnetic (TPME) framework is devised using the finite element method in a 2D domain. Contemporaneous efforts in the commercial development of oil shale by in-situ pyrolysis have largely focused on pilot methodologies intended to validate specific corporate or esoteric EOR strategies. This work focuses on addressing efficient epistemic uncertainty quantification (UQ) of select thermal, oil shale distribution, electromagnetic, and mechanical characteristics of oil shale in the RF heating process, comparing a spectral methodology to a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation for validation. Attempts were made to parameterize the stochastic simulation models using the characteristic properties of Green River oil shale. The geologic environment being investigated is devised as a kerogen-poor under- and overburden separated by a layer of heterogeneous yet kerogen-rich oil shale in a target formation. The objective of this work is the quantification of plausible oil shale conversion using TPME simulation under parametric uncertainty; this, while considering a referenced conversion timeline of 1.0 × 107 seconds. Nonintrusive polynomial chaos (NIPC) and MC simulation were used to evaluate complex stochastically driven TPME simulations of RF heating. The least angle regression (LAR) method was specifically used to determine a sparse set of polynomial chaos coefficients leading to the determination of summary statistics that describe the TPME results. Given the existing broad use of MC simulation methods for UQ in the oil and gas industry, the combined LAR and NIPC is suggested to provide a distinguishable performance improvement to UQ compared to MC methods.

scholarly journals Macro and Meso Characteristics of In-Situ Oil Shale Pyrolysis Using Superheated Steam

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Wang ◽  
Dong Yang ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Guoying Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Shale ◽  
Superheated Steam ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Horizontal Stress ◽  
Convective Heating ◽  
Pyrolysis Characteristics ◽  
Oil Shale Pyrolysis ◽  
Seepage Channel

The efficiency of oil shale pyrolysis is directly related to the feasibility of in-situ mining technology. Taiyuan University of Technology (China) proposed the technology of in-situ convective heating of oil shale, which uses superheated steam as the heat carrier to heat the oil shale’s ore-body and transport the pyrolysis products. Based on the simulated experiments of in-situ oil shale pyrolysis using superheated steam, the changes in fracture characteristics, pyrolysis characteristics and mesoscopic characteristics of the oil shale during the pyrolysis have been systematically studied in this work. The Xinjiang oil shale’s pyrolysis temperature ranged within 400–510 °C. When the temperature is 447 °C, the rate of pyrolysis of kerogen is the fastest. During the pyrolysis process, the pressure of superheated steam changes within the range of 0.1–11.1 MPa. With the continuous thermal decomposition, the horizontal stress difference shows a tendency to first increase and then, decrease. The rate of weight loss of oil shale residue at various locations after the pyrolysis is found to be within the range of 0.17–2.31%, which is much lower than the original value of 10.8%, indicating that the pyrolysis is more adequate. Finally, the number of microcracks (<50 µm) in the oil shale after pyrolysis is found to be lie within the range of 25–56 and the average length lies within the range of 53.9636–62.3816 µm. The connectivity of the internal pore groups is satisfactory, while the seepage channel is found to be smooth. These results fully reflect the high efficiency and feasibility of in-situ oil shale pyrolysis using superheated steam.

Numerical Simulation of the In-Situ Upgrading of Oil Shale

SPE Journal ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (02) ◽  
pp. 368-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.. Fan ◽  
L.J.. J. Durlofsky ◽  
H.A.. A. Tchelepi
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Reaction ◽  
Oil Shale ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Design And Optimization ◽  
Compositional Flow

Summary Oil shale is a highly abundant energy resource, though commercial production has yet to be realized. Thermal in-situ upgrading processes for producing hydrocarbons from oil shale have gained attention recently, however, in part because of promising results reported by Shell using its in-situ conversion process (Crawford et al. 2008). This and similar processes entail heating the oil shale to approximately 700°F (371°C), where the kerogen in the shale decomposes through a series of chemical reactions into liquid and gas products. In this paper, we present a detailed numerical formulation of the in-situ upgrading process. Our model, which can be characterized as a thermal/compositional, chemical reaction, and flow formulation, is implemented into Stanford's General Purpose Research Simulator (GPRS). The formulation includes strongly temperature-dependent kinetic reactions, fully compositional flow and transport, and a model for the introduction of heat into the formation through downhole heaters. We present detailed simulation results for representative systems. The model and heating patterns are based on information in Shell publications; chemical-reaction and thermodynamic data are from previously reported pyrolysis experiments. After a relatively modest degree of parameter adjustment (with parameters restricted to physically realistic ranges), our results for oil and gas production are in reasonable agreement with available field data. We also investigate various sensitivities and show how production is affected by heater temperature and location. The ability to model these effects will be essential for the eventual design and optimization of in-situ upgrading operations.

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