jordan oil shale studies

8/13/2019 Jordan Oil Shale Studies

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26thOil Shale SymposiumColorado School of Mines

16-19 October, 2006

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Jordans Experience in Oil Shale Studies Employing DifferentTechnologies

Eng. Munther S. BsiesoMinistry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR)

P.O. Box 140027 Amman, JordanTel.: 962 6 5861416, Ext 306

E-mail : [email protected]

Abstract

This paper introduces and discusses the Jordans experience in dealing with oil shale as asource of energy. Since 1960s, Jordan has been investigating economical and environ-mental methods for utilizing this indigenous oil shale source with the main objective of util-izing this source for either power generation or retorting at a cost competitive with othersources of energy. Oil shale deposits in Jordan represent a significant energy source thatcould potentially lead to an energy self sufficiency.

Oil shale technologies have been recently developed to accommodate oil shale utilizationeconomically and cleanly. Long experience of feasibility studies and test programs haveconcluded that the Jordanian oil shale, due to its high organic content, is considered as asuitable source of energy either by direct burning to generate electricity or by retorting forthe production of oil and gas. The conventional oil supply will not much longer be dependentupon to supply the ever increasing demand pointing to the only one permanent source ofthe raw oil shale material which we have to resort for our future supply.

Jordan has been involved in more than three decades of comprehensive engineering and

economical studies and test experiments for both retorting and direct burning of Jordanianoil shale with several international oil shale companies providing a solid foundation for afuture oil shale industry in Jordan.

Based on these facts, Jordan believes that oil shale utilization should be pursued because itwill result in significant savings in foreign exchange, improve Jordans energy supply secu-rity and create new jobs.

Major technical advances have occurred in process monitoring and control, process simula-tion and modeling, chemicals separation and purification, and systems and methods for re-ducing adverse environmental impacts.

Introduction

The situation in the energy field gives rea-son to believe that in the near future, fueloil and natural gas will no longer be avail-able as sources of sustainable energy in thequantities known today (Figure 1, Table 1).Oil shale is considered as one of the prom-ising options to substitute conventional fu-els. Oil Shale resources of the world are

abundant and next to coal and tar sands,oil shale is considered to be one of the larg-est fossil energy reserves in the world.(Figure 2)

Oil shale is a hydrocarbon bearing rockthat occurs in nearly 100 major deposits in27 countries worldwide (Figure 3, 4)
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Figure 1: Projected world production ofh drocarbons

Figure 2: Potential resources ofunconventional hydrocarbons

The largest known oil shale deposits in theworld are in the Green River Formation,which covers portions of Colorado, Utah,and Wyoming. Estimates of the oilresource in place within the Green RiverFormation range from 1.5 to 1.8 trillionbarrels. For nearly a century, oil shale in

the western United States has been consid-ered as a substitute source for conventional

crude oil. But the economics of shale oilproduction have persistently remained be-hind conventional oil.

Table 1: Reserves of various

petroleum resources

Fuel type Reserves,

BBOE

Years of

Production*

Oil 1012 44

Natural gas 750 67

Coal 3745 223

Oil shale 1500-3400 -

Tar sand 1650 -

* at current rate of production

At present, oil shale is being used on com-mercial scale as power generating fuel andas raw material in many countries such asRussia, Estonia, China, Australia, Canadaand Spain.

Oil shale has a long past of production,starting in 1837 in France (Autun mines,which were closed in 1957), Scotland 1850-1963, Australia 1865-1952, 1998 2004,

Brazil 1881-1900,1941- 1957, 1972-, Esto-nia 1921-, Sweden 1921-1965, Switzerland1921-1935, Spain 1922-1966, China 1929-,South Africa 1935-1960.

Figure 3: Oil shale resources of the world

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Figure 5: Formation of kerogen in oil shale

In 1913, an American named WilliamBurton patented a commercial process forcracking oil into its constituent parts.Since then, most of the world's industrieshave become reliant on these products

The enormous indigenous sources of energyin its vast low grade oil shale reserves ofextractable oil in Jordan are virtuallyequivalent to that crude oil of theUSA.

Table 2 compares Jordanian oil shale char-acteristics with oil shale from some othercountries.

What is Oil Shale?

Oil shale is a fossil fuel where dead organicmaterial that was buried before being oxi-dized by air underwent a series of slowchemical reactions that turned the organicmolecules into hydrocarbons.

The term oil shale generally refers to anysedimentary rock that contains solid bitu-minous materials that are released as pe-troleum-like liquids when the rock isheated. Oil shale is a 40-50 million year old

sedimentary rock which, within its structureof clay minerals, contains a solid hydrocar-bon. Kerogen is basically "fossilized algae"which has been formed during the deposi-tion of sediments in ancient lake environ-ments. The effects of time, pressure andtemperature have transformed these sedi-ments into a hydrocarbon-bearing rock,known as oil shale (Figure 5).

Figure 4: Major oil shale resources The U. S. Geological Survey defines oilshale as "organic-rich shale that yields sub-stantial quantities of oil by conventional

methods of destructive distillation of thecontained organic matter, which employ lowconfining pressures in a closed retort sys-tem. They further define oil shale to "anypart of an organic-rich shale deposit thatyields at least 10 gallons (3.8 percent) ofoil per short ton of shale"

JordanMoroccoEstoniaChinaEuoropeU.S.ABrazil

C.V ( k cal/kg1800110020001500198618001340

oil content (%)127207139.77Organic Carbon(%)191119122017.32.6

H2 (%)222.522.71.71.9

O2 (%)1.89.67.5711.52.12.7

N2 (%)0.34_0.20.380.21.30.6

S (%)3.21.21.550.360.650.6

H2O (%)2.51011.51312.70.75.3

Table 2: Chemical properties of various oil shales


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The organic matter in oil shale is composedchiefly of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, andsmall amounts of sulfur and nitrogen. Itforms a complex macromolecular structurethat is insoluble in common organic sol-

vents (e.g., carbon disulfide). The organicmatter is mixed with varied amounts ofmineral matter consisting of fine-grainedsilicate and carbonate minerals (Figure 6).

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The kerogen (from Greek meaning oil gen-erator) can be converted to oil by thermaltreatment, gas and coke being formed atthe same time. The kerogen is generallypresent as fine inclusions in the mineralsubstances.

The organic matter in oil shale is basically

immature oil; fossil deposits that have notbeen subjected to enough heat and pres-sure in the earth to convert it into liquidcrude oil. That means in order to obtainpetroleum from oil shale by retorting, some

amounts of heat energy must be applied toextract the kerogen (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Maturation diagram for kerogen

Figure 6: Photomicrograph of kerogen in oilshale

To obtain oil from oil shale, the shale mustbe heated and resultant liquid must becaptured. This process is called retorting,and the vessel in which retorting takes

place is known as a retort.Conventional oil was formed through asimilar retorting process, the differencebeing that it has been subjected to millionsof years of deposition and subterraneanpressures and temperatures. Essentially,extracting the hydrocarbon from oil shaleinvolve "speeding up" the geological proc-ess by the application of heat in controlledcondition.

Oil Shale in Jordan

Jordan is non-oil producing country which isdeeply affected by the world energy situa-tion. There is a clear economic interest forJordan to have the oil shale utilization de-veloped as a future energy source.

Oil shale in Jordan had been known tooccur from ancient times, evidence of whichwas found in mosaics and floors at palaces,churches and mosques from the Greek,


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Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods. TheHashemite Kingdom of Jordan possessesenormous indigenous sources of energy inits vast low grade oil shale. These reservesof extractable oil are virtually equivalent to

that crude oil of the USA. Jordan ranks thirdin world oil shale reserves after USA andBrazil.

Large deposits of oil shale are widely dis-tributed all over Jordan (Figures 8, 9).

Geological surveys have confirmed the ex-isting of oil shale reserves that cover morethan 60% of Jordan's land and some of themajor oil shale deposits are underlain byphosphate beds. A huge proven and ex-

ploitable near surface reserves are esti-mated to be more than 50 billion metrictons with extractable crude oil equivalent toabout 50 billion barrels of oil (Figure 10).

These major deposits of commercial scale

Figure 8: Oil shale occurrences in Jordan

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interest are located in the central part ofJordan and are easily accessible from theHighway. These deposits are traversed by a

high voltage power transmission lines sothat a substantial part of the infrastructurerequired for development is already inplace.

British geologists investigated the oil shaleof the general region after World War 1,where samples were taken and retorting

tests were made. Records from the outcropof Shallaleh deposits have indicated thatvillagers have used the shale for manyyears to heat water and to lime their homesand wells.

Figure 9: Major Jordanian oil shale occurrences

The declining potential of crude oil and gasreserves accompanied with increasing theirprices indicates the countrys strong effortsto investigate and develop sources for itsreplacement such as oil shale being theonly fossil fuel discovered in Jordan.

Preliminary studies on Jordan oil shale be-gan in the late 1960s but no actions weretaken at that time because the level of oilprices was far too low for a viable oil shaledevelopment program. However, since1980s the Government of Jordan (GOJ) hasconducted extensive studies for the exploi-tation of oil shale reserves mainly of twodeposits: Al-Lajjun and Sultani.

Detailed surveys were carried out by drillingcore holes and performed laboratory workto determine proven geological reserves,quality, oil content and calorific value. TheGOJ has also conducted many feasibilitystudies on oil shale that have led to the as-sessment of this oil shale and the suitabilityof the stateof-theart technologies thathave been developed so far and reached toa mature stage of commercial development.

The geological conditions e.g.its thicknessand the structural settings, the chemicaland mineralogical compositions are favor-able for open-pit mining. All these factorstogether with the low mining and infra-structure costs render the deposit quitesuitable for industrial utilization. The pro-duction of oil and electricity using oil shalecould be a viable option even at todays oilprices.

Oil Shale Deposits in Jordan ( Bilion Tons)

Wadi

Mughur; 32

Althamad;

11.4

Attarat;

11.3

Jurf; 8.6

Lajjun; 1.3

Sultani; 1

Wadi Mughur

AlthamadAttarat

Jurf

Lajjun

Sultani

Figure 10: Oil shale resources of Jordan

There are 18 known surface- and near-sur-face deposits; eight of them were investi-gated in different levels and are regardedas commercially attractive. Those majordeposits and their characteristics are sum-marized in Tables 3 and 4.


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Geology of Oil Shale in JordanGeologically, oil shale belongs to the upperCretaceous and lower Tertiary formations.Oil shale deposits were discovered in thecentral part of the country and are classi-fied as shallow and near surface deposits.Other deeper lying deposits which are lo-cated in the north and east part of Jordanare exploitable only by underground miningoperation.

The Jordanian oil shale is bituminous and,to varying degrees, brown, grey or dark

grey calcareous marls with a typical bluishlight-grey color when weathered (Figure11). Traditionally, oil shale is defined assedimentary rock whose solid organic con-tent (kerogen) is virtually converted byretorting which forces the decomposition ofkerogen and releases hydrocarbons as a

liquid oil-like hydrocarbons when exposed

to temperatures of up to 500 0C (destruc-tive distillation). Oil shale can be burnt di-rected when crushed to about 5 mm grainsize in modern fluidized bed technology.

Table 3: Properties of Jordanian oil shale deposits

Deposit GeologicReserves(Billion tons)

SurfaceArea(sq.km)

OverburdenThickness(m)

Oil ShaleThickness(m)

OrganicMatter(%)

AverageOil Content(%)

El-Lajjun 1.3 20 31 29 28 10.5

Sultani 0.99 24 69 32 25 9.7

Jurf Ed-Darawish

8.6 150 47 68 18 5.7

Attaraat Um-Ghudran

11.3 226 47 36 29 11.0

Wadi Maghar 32 29 40 40 20 6.8

El-Thamad 11.4 150 142 400 72 200 25 10.5

Khan Ezzabib N.A N.A 66 39-45 N.A 6.9

Thickly bedded or concretionary limestone -locally dolomite- and chert are interlaced inthe oil shale sequence; phosphate layersoccur usually under the oil shale deposits.

Feasibility Studies and Test

Programs

During the last two decades, the GOJ hasconducted several feasibility studies andtest programs through many specializedinternational companies either for directburning or retorting as follow:

Table 4: Additional properties of Jordanian oil shale deposits

Number ofDrilled Wells

MoistureContent(%)

AshContent(%)

SulfurContent(%)

Density(g/cm3)

CalorificValue(Kcal/kg)

CalorificValue(kj/kg)

El-Lajjun 135 2.1 54.7 3.1 1.81 16 50 6 906

Sultani 57 5.5 55.5 2.4 1.96 15 26 6 380

Jurf Ed-Edarawish

50 4.5 58.4 2.4 2.1 11 00 4 603

Attaraat 41 3.25 53.2 2.6 1.8 1730 7.235

Wadi Maghar 21 2.9 57.5 2.6 2.03 1090 4.773

El-Thamad 12 2.5 54.7 3.2 1.8 1800 6 903


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1. Pre-feasibility study with a former USSRcompany named Technopromexport toassess the potential for direct burning ina 300 MW power plant. The studyconcluded that the Jordanian oil shale issuitable as a fuel for direct burning and

recommended the construction of anexperimental demonstration plant of200 MW.

2. Feasibility study with a German Com-pany called Klockner / Lurgi for con-ducting studies and test programs for oilshale retorting to produce syncrude (50000 b/d) and for circulating fluidizedbed (CFB) for direct combustion in

power generation. The study concludedthe following

A - The geological conditions of Al-Lajjun oil shale are reliably provenfor a 50 000 b/d oil shale retortingplant for 30 years.

B- Open cast mining method for oilshale is both technically and eco-nomically viable.

C- Al-Lajjun oil shale has high quantityof sulfur (3.5 %). The hydrogen sul-phide produced can be converted to99% pure elemental sulfur.

Figure 11: Jordanian oil shale

D- The pilot test demonstrated smoothoperation.

Figure 12: Outcrop of Jordanian oil shale

E- Combustion tests on spent shaleproved an almost total burn out ofresidual carbon at 800 0C; the resid-ual oil shale is suitable material forbuilding and road construction.

F- The economic assessments indicatedthat oil production cost is in therange of 20-25 USD/b and electricityproduction cost is 19 fils/ kWh (1988prices).

3. Feasibility study and retorting test pro-gram with a Chinese company namedSinopec. The research into Jordanian Al-Lajjun oil shale was carried out by ship-ping more than 1000 tons to China.Main results indicated that oil contentreaches 10%, sulfur content is about

Figure 13: Open pit mine wall in Jordanian oilshale


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Figure 14: Sultani open pit mine

3%, calcium oxide content in ash ac-counts for 38%. The research into Jor-danian oil shale showed that it can bewell processed in the Chinese Fushuntype retort. There arose no difficulties inconnection with ash removal or separa-tion of water from shale oil. The oil yieldfrom the retort reaches 80-84% of

Fischer assay, oil viscosity was 0.98 andimpurities of 0.06%. The calorific valueof the gas produced was 1050 Kcal/m3.It means that Fushun type retorts aresuitable for different kinds of oil shalewhich makes them economically profit-able, and especially suitable for smalland medium scale shale oil production.

4. Test Program was conducted by a Rus-sian company called Enin.

The preliminary results of the Jordanshale thermal processing tests con-

ducted by Russian specialists from Eninhave shown that the technology devel-oped by ENIN makes it possible to useshale of any fractional composition andquality without preliminary sizing forproducing high calorific liquid and gasesfuels. The technology called UTT 3000has found its commercial application in

two plants which process as much as140 tons per hour oil shale.

The study has concluded that the Jordanoil shale is fully suited for a high effi-cient use in plants UTT 3000 which isa high efficient and environmentallysafe facility to produce oil and fuel gasor a thermal power station where shale

is used as a source fuel.

5. Feasibility study and test program witha Canadian Company Suncor for re-torting the Jordanian oil shale. The oilshale sample was tested using AlbertaTaciuk Processor (ATP). Engineering andeconomical analysis will be required todetermine if this is a viable project.Technical indicators of similar project inAustralia seem to be positive.

The ATP combines the extraction, up-grading and energy generating steps ofproducing oil from oil shale; it requiresless capital and equipment than othertraditional processing techniques. TheATP is a rotating kiln that heats oil shaleto 500 0C, releasing the shales hydro-carbon vapors. These vapors are thencaptured, condensed and processed intooil. The spent shale is used to fuel the

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operation making it energy self-suffi-cient.

6. Direct burning feasibility studies

Jordan has conducted several feasibility

studies for direct burning to generateelectricity with some international com-panies. All feasibility studies and testburns have concluded that the Jorda-nian oil shale burned very stably, evenat loads as low as 40%, low SO2andNOx emission levels can be achieved inthe CFB combustor, high carbon burnout, 99% can be achieved.

Oil Shale Test Burn Results

A) Test in Finland

Based on the results of combustion of75 tons of Jordan Sultani oil shale inFinland, Pyropower concluded the fol-lowing:

1. The sample of oil shale is an accept-able fuel in an Ahlstrom PyroflowCFB where it burn cleanly and effi-ciently.

2. Combustion efficiency in excess of98.5 % was demonstrated.

3. Both SO2and NOx emissions and COemissions all were acceptably low.The tests demonstrated that over90% of the fuel sulfur was absorbedby the inherent calcium in the oilshale. Typical emissions measuredduring these tests were:SO2 below 20 ppmNOx in the range between 60-120ppmCO below 50 ppm

These values will generally meet themore stringent environmental re-quirements.

B) Test in GermanyBased on the results of combustion of75 tons of oil shale from Sultani deposit,Lurgi concluded the following:

1. There were no upsets in the fluidiz-ing behavior of the circulating mate-rial and/ or in plant operation.

2. Combustion of oil shale was self sustained.

3. With particle size 3-5 mm, combus-tion of oil shale did not pose anyproblems.

4. Carbon burn off reached 98%.

5. In view of CaCO3content of the oilshale ash it was not necessary toadd limestone for desulfurization asper the following chemical reactions:

CaCO3 CaO + CO2

CaO + SO2 + O2 CaSO4(Calcium sulfate like plaster)

6. In the view of the low combustiontemperature, the SO2, NOx and COemissions were according to the in-ternational standards.

Main Oil Shale Technologies

There are two main methods to exploit oilshale economically and environmentally:

A) Retorting Technologies

Common to all retorts are the processingsteps taking place. First retorting (some-times called semi coking) takes place in apyrolysis zone where the oil shale is driedand heated to a temperature of 500 6000C.

The retorted shale then passes to a gasifi-cation zone where the residual organic car-bon (semi coke) is oxidized at a tem-perature of not more than 1000 0C, so thatthe inorganic materials do not fuse to form

masses of slag.Finally, the spent shale is cooled to 80-1000C as it passes to the lower part of the re-tort where it is removed through a waterseal. The heat required to retort the shaleis principally supplied by combustion of arecycled fuel gas in the hot chamber whichis equipped with special burners.

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The primary products from processing oilshale in the gas producer retort are shaleoil and fuel gas. The waste products for dis-posal are spent shale and process water.

B) Fluidized Bed Direct Burning Technology

In fluidized-bed combustion, oil shale isburned and its sulfur is recaptured in a sin-gle process, as contrasted with conven-tional boilers combustion where a scrubber

removes the sulfur from flue gases. Due tothe low combustion temperature (700 800 oC) and due to the solid mixing whichmakes this CFB superior to other conven-tional boilers in terms of efficiency (99%)and low SOx and NOx emissions.

CFB is capable of handling low-grade solidfuel with high ash content as well as its ca-pability of in-bed capture of sulfur.

Although the EL-Lajjun oil shale has rela-tively high levels of calcium causes much ofthe sulfur to bond with the calcium to form

sulfates during the process of pyrolysis andcombustion causing much reduction in sul-fur dioxide emissions.

The fluidization phenomenon is the statewere the solid particulates move apart fromeach other and is kept individually sus-pended by the gas in a column containing a

bed of solid particles by passing gas at acertain minimum velocity. The solid bed issaid to be fluidized because it behaves verymuch like a liquid.

As the gas velocity increases beyond theminimum fluidization velocity, the bed ma-terial begins to elutriate. Because of theturbulence in the circulating bed, any parti-cles fed to the bed mixes quickly and uni-formly with the bed material.

The primary advantages of using CFB boil-ers are:

Ability to burn low grade fuels such asoil shale.

Low emissions of SO2 and NOx due tothe existing limestone in oil shale anddue to the lower combustion tempera-tures.

Figure 15: Standard oil shale retort

Over 99% combustion of carbon contentcan be achieved due to the good mixing ofgases and solids and due to the long reten-tion time.

Material (oil shale) is entered by means ofscrew feeders with particle size of 3 to 7mm into the combustion chamber where itis easily mixed with the circulating solids.

The combustion temperature (700 900oC)is below the ash fusion temperature andalso suitable for prevention of NOx forma-tion.

Solids are separated from flue gas in a heatcyclone and recycled into the furnacethrough the hot cyclone.

Coarse bottom ash particles are withdrawnfrom the furnace bottom. Gases from hotcyclone are passed through superheaterand economizer banks and then to a bagfilter before it goes to the chimney.

The fluidization phenomenon is the statewherein the solid particulates move apartfrom each other and are kept individuallysuspended by the gas in a column contain-ing a bed of solid particles by passing gasat a certain minimum velocity (Fig. 16). Thesolid bed is said to be fluidized because itbehaves very much like a liquid.


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Figure 16: Fluidized bed system for oil shale burning

As the gas velocity increases beyond the

minimum fluidization velocity, the bed ma-terial begins to elutriate. Because of theturbulence in the circulating bed, any parti-cles fed to the bed mixes quickly and uni-formly with the bed material.

The primary advantages of using CFB boil-ers are:

1. Ability to burn low grade fuels such asoil shale.

2. Control of SO2 and NOx emissions dueto existing of limestone and the com-bustion at low temperatures.

3. Over 99% combustion of carbon contentcan be achieved due to the good mixingof gases and solids and due to long re-tention time.

Material (oil shale) is entered by means ofscrew feeders with particle size of 3 to 7mm into the combustion chamber where itis easily mixed with the circulating solids.

The combustion temperature (700-900 0C)

is below the ash fusion temperature andalso suitable for NOx reduction.

Solids are separated from flue gas in a heatcyclone and recycled into the furnacethrough the hot cyclone.

Coarse bottom ash particles are withdrawnfrom the furnace bottom. Gases from hotcyclones are passed through super heaterand economizer banks and then to a baghouse before it goes to the chimney.

C- Pressurized Fluid Bed Combustion(PFBC)

The PFBC principle combines fluidized bedcombustion with a gas turbine. The gas tur-bine supplies the combustion air at highpressure to the combustor, and the gasesafter being cleaned in cyclones drive thegas turbine (Figure 17).

Steam is simultaneously generated in thetube bundles in the combustor and drives a

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steam turbine. It is an oil shale-fired com-bined cycle where the gas turbine producesabout 20% and the steam turbine about

80% of the electrical output. With thiscombination, a high efficiency is reached toabout 50% (Compared with 30% for CFB).

Other Oil Shale Technologies

1 - Gasification:

Although oil shale is normally consideredprimarily as feed stock for syncrude pro-duction, recent R&D has shown that oilshale can be gasified as well.

The gasification process employs a bed ofcrushed oil shale that travels downwardthrough the gasifier, and operates at pres-sure up to 450 psi. Steam and oxygen areadmitted through a revolving steam-cooledgrate which also removes the ash producedat the bottom of the gasifier. The gases aremade to pass upward through the oil shalebed, carbonizing and drying the oil shale,steam is used to prevent the ash fromclinkering and the grate from over-heatingand hydrogen rich gas is produced. Be-cause of the pressure, some of the oil shaleis hydro generated into methane (in addi-

tion to that distilled from oil shale), releas-ing heat which in turn is given up to the oilshale, minimizing the oxygen requirement .

Gasification:

2 C + 2 H2O 2 H2 + 2 CO

CO + H2O H2 + CO2

Research on catalytic gasification of Jorda-nian oil shale sample was carried out at theGrozneftechnim in the former Soviet Unionon laboratory and pilot scale plants. Thecatalytic system used proved to be highly

selective for yield of gas containing 80% ofmethane against other known hydrogasifi-cation processes yielding gas and resin.

Results of the research in steam exogenousgasification have shown that it is possible toobtain synthesis gas used in motor fuelproduction. The gas obtained has highcontent hydrogen (10.5 %) and carbon ox-ides (64.9%).Figure 17: Pressurized fluidized bed system

2 - In-Situ Oil Shale Retorting Process

With certain types of oil shale deposits, re-

covery of the oil in-situ may be possible.The process is based on mining out part ofthe shale to create a large room, then em-placing explosives and blasting the overly-ing shale, creating a column of rubberizedoil shale. A forward combustion process isthen used to retort the room.

3 - Oil Shale Extraction by Organic Solvents

Solvent extraction of organic matter is oneof the common techniques for dissolving or-ganic matter within rock composite.

Research and development activities werecarried out in Jordan and have investigatedEl-Lajjun oil shale using a solvent mixtureof 75% benxene and 25% cyclohexane byvolume and found to be the best solvent ofvarious organic solvents, such as toluene,benzene, cyclohexane, pentane, ethyletherand ethylbenzene to produce 73% of highyields of extracted oil in a continuous ster-ling tank reactor (CSTR). It was found thatextraction yield from fine particles ex-ceeded that from the course particles by anamount which decreased with the increase

in residence time. The higher the tempera-ture to which the oil shale is preheated(less than the boiling point of the solvent),the higher is the extraction yield for thesame residence time. It was found that theeffect of extraction time of yield was muchstronger for larger particles (diameter morethan 2 mm) than for smaller ones. The op-


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timum weight of solvent used per kg of oilshale was 0.5 kg solvent per kg oil shale.

In a study conducted jointly between NRAand NERC using soxhlet extractor to extractoil from the El-Lajjun oil shale using differ-ent solvents to examine the best solventand the best technique based on the qualityand quantity of the yield and solvent ob-tained. It is found that maximum oil recov-ery cab be achieved and reached 23.37%by using carbon disulfide by soxhlet typeextractor (Figure 18).

Eleven organic solvents were used to ex-tract oil shale organic matter by soxhletextractors for duration of twenty-hour ex-traction time. These organic solvents are:Xylene, toluene, dichloromethane, chloro-form, carbon tertrachloride, ethanol, carbondisulfide, perchloroethylene, trichloro-flouromethane, petroleum spirits and amixture of benzene and cyclohexane (75%and 25%).

The soxhlet extractor is used to extract or-ganic compounds from solids. The centerchamber of the extractor contains a porousfiber glass thimble. Inside the thimble is thesolid sample to be extracted. The round

bottom flask contains a volatile organic sol-vent is heated to boil the organic solvent tocreate enough vapor pressure to produce asteady flow of liquid drops from the con-denser at the top of the soxhlet extractor.

Once the solvent in the upper chamberrises above the relief arm, the solvent isreturned back to the round bottom flaskand the process repeats it-self.

The solvent is then removed by evaporationat room temperature. Then the sample isplaced in a sand bath under nitrogenevaporator to separate the solvents fromthe extracted organic matter. Organicmatter was determined as the differencebetween the weight of the vial with the ex-tracted organic matter and the weight of

the empty vial. The sample which was sub-jected to solvent extraction is removed anddried in oven. The dried sample is thentreated by Fischer Assay to determine theoil yield potential and to evaluate the loss inorganic matter that is dissolved through theextraction process

Environmental Considerations

The production, conversion, transport and

Figure 18: Solubility of oil shale organic material in various solvents.

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final use of all forms of energy have certainenvironmental impacts. The production ofsyncrude and the generation of electricitybased on thermal decomposition, gasifica-tion and direct combustion of oil shale, hot

gases are normally discharged containingconstituents.

Prior to the commencement of any oil shaleoperation, environment impact assessment(EIA) should be conducted to develop datain all environmental areas. The key areas tobe addressed are:

Water pollution: Development of protec-tive measures for both surface and groundwater supplies and measures to mitigatesurface and ground water contaminationdue to mining and ash disposal. Excavationof ditches around the pit area and the out-of-pit waste pile are measures to preventrain water run-off from becoming contami-nated.

Rain water run-off will be collected in sedi-mentation ponds and will have zero dis-charge. This will prevent any contaminantfrom entering the ground water. Leachability tests of the spent shale ash are re-quired as well as testing of the overburdenfor its chemical properties.

Spent shale must leave the retorting op-erations through water filled lock hoppersto ensure thorough saturation prior to beinghauled back to mine reclamation site.

The elution test of some ashes showed thatsome heavy metals of environmental con-cern were found in traces. Successiveanalysis has shown also that ground andpercolating waters are highly alkaline andsaturated with gypsum after contact withashes. As a mitigation measure, ash mustbe layered with the overburden in the dis-

posal plan in order to minimize wind ero-sion and to reduce the potential of leaching.

Atmospheric Air Emissions: Air pollutionfrom the mine area will be mostly dust. Theoperation will be equipped with water tank-ers and the pit road will be sprayed withwater regularly. The noise level due to mineblasting is minimal, as blasting the oil shaleis not required. Dust collectors will be used

to prevent air pollution at the process plant.

The major pollutants arising from the proc-essing of oil shale are smoke, SOx, NOx,CO, CO2 and particulates. For particulates,

typical preventive measures will be taken toprevent ash be emitted to the atmosphere.These measures include electrostatic pre-cipitators and bag filters. They should beable to reduce the particulate matter emit-ted to less than 80 mg/m3 of flue gas and12% reduction in carbon dioxide.

Gaseous Emissions: Emission standardsspecify the maximum amount of a givenpollutant which can be released into theatmosphere. Previous oil shale studies inJordan have used the World Bank Guide-lines because of their ready available in ausable form.

All gaseous fuels produced in the processwill first be treated to recover ammonia andwill then be desulfurized before being usedfor hydrogen manufacture. Desulfurizationtechniques will be used to remove the sul-fur from the retorted gases. The hydrogensulfide thus recovered and will be convertedto valuable elemental sulfur.

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2): Jordan oil shalehas a high alkaline ash content which re-

quires no limestone to be added for sulfurremoval. The pilot test results indicate ex-cellent sulfur capture by the calcium in theoil shale. In the combustion process, mostof the sulfur is oxidized to form SO2 and asmall fraction is further oxidized to formSO3. The following reactions take placeduring combustion:

Step 1 Limestone (CaCO3) + Heat ----Calcium oxide (CaO)+ Carbon dioxide(CO2)

Step 2 Calcium oxide (CaO) + Sulfur di-

oxide (SO2 + O2) ---- Calcium sulfate(CaSO4) like plaster.

In the circulating fluid bed boiler, oil shaleis mixed with limestone and suspended in apowerful air flow. Inside the boiler, themixture is heated up and changes to limethat captures sulfur dioxide and forms cal-cium sulfate known as gypsum.


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Nitrogen Oxides (NOx): The two mostimportant nitrogen oxide air pollutants arenitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (NO2).Both are produced in combustion processarising from the high temperature reaction

between N2 and O2 in the combustion airand from the oxidation of organically bound nitrogen in certain fuels. The NOxemission levels increases with increasingtemperature.

The pilot test results indicate acceptableNOx emissions. The low NOx emissions isbrought about by the low combustion tem-perature of only 800 0C. The NOx emissionlevels increased with increasing furnacetemperature.

Prospects for Ash UtilizationThe basic materials which are normallyblended to form cement, such as limestone,clay, fluorite, iron oxide, are already inher-ent in the oil shale ash

Chemical composition of Jordanian oil shaleash indicates that almost 87% of cementraw materials do exist in oil shale ash asshown in Table 5.

Common products made from oil shale fromthese early operations were kerosene andlamb oil, paraffin, fuel oil, Lubricating oiland grease, naphtha, illuminating gas, thefertilizer chemical and ammonium sulfate.

Other potential by -products from oil shaleinclude specialty carbon fibers, absorbent

carbons, carbon black, bricks, constructionand decorative building blocks, soil additi-tive fertilizers, rock wool insulating materi-als and glass. Many of these by-productsare still in the experimental stage, but the

economic potential for their manufactureseems big.

Preliminary R&D concludes that the high-calcium ash of Jordanian oil shale is suitablefor a wide range of utilizations such as: Construction material including bricks,

tiles, light weight aggregate cementmixing for manufacturing of concreteproducts.

Construction of road bases, use filler inasphalt mixtures.

Stabilization of soils conditioner andfertilizer production (liming of acidsoils).

Production of foundry cores. Animal supplement in animal food.Oil Shale Ash Utilization in Cement

Manufacturing

Oil shale ash is characterized as a bindingmaterial (clinker minerals). Studies con-ducted by Bechtel concluded that shale ashbinding matter does not respond to thestandard requirements for Portland cementswith respect to the regularity of volumevariation during the first week of hardening.

Moreover, a sample of shale ash from com-bustion of Sultani oil shale deposit wastested chemically and physically at the Jor-dan Cement Lab in 1988 and concluded thefollowing results:

The tested oil shale ash has shown goodability for grinding which assist inincreasing the earlier strengthening forthe cement.

Test proved that the cement contained

some ash became more strength after3-7 days.

When ash ratio mixed with cement withmore than 20%, some negative impactappeared due to the high content ofP2O5in the ash.

Byproducts can add considerable value tosome oil shale deposits. Uranium, vana-

Table 5: Composition of Jordanian

oil shale ash

Compound wt %

Calcium oxide 48

Silicon dioxide 29

Aluminum oxide 7

Iron 3

MgO 3.3

CO2 3.5

Na2O 0.6

P2O5 4

K2O 0.8

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dium, zinc, alumina, phosphate, sodiumcarbonate minerals, ammonium sulfate andsulfur add potential value to some deposits.The spent shale obtained from retortingmay also find use in the construction in-

dustry as cement .Germany and China haveused oil shale as a source of cement.

Another secondary constituent for themanufacture of cement is produced from oilshale combustion in fluidized bed furnace.

The energy that is released when oil shaleis burnt is used to generate electricity orheat and the ash produced is ground withcement clinker to provide oil shale cementcharacterized as a binding material.

Rohrbach Zement in Southern German is

the only cement factory in Europe whichproduces Portland shale cement using burntoil shale as a feed stock that is certified ac-cording to the DIN 1164, Part 100 ISO9001specifications which is high qualitycement from limestone and oil shale.

The most important raw materials for themanufacturing of cement are limestone andclay in which both components are alreadynaturally mixed. The mixture is ground andsubsequently fired in a rotary furnace tocement clinkers. The cement industry

started using oil shale to improve the qual-ity and economy of cement production.Research has drawn attention to the factthat large quantity of high calcium ash ofJordanian oil shale is suitable for a widerange of utilization such as cement pro-duction, construction of roads and manu-facturing of bricks and tiles. Cement ismade from a mixture of raw materialswhich mainly contains calcium oxide, silicondioxide, aluminum oxide and iron in definiteproportions.

Chemical composition of oil shale ash indi-cates that almost 87% of cement raw ma-terials do exist in oil shale ash as follow:

It is highly recommended to conduct R&Dactivities to study all factors and compo-nents such as mechanical properties, highstrength, permeability and self-bindingproperties to avoid any technical obstaclesthat might appear to utilize the fly ash as a

cement substitute in concrete and improvethe efficiency of shale ash use in cementand building material industry. The chemi-cal composition of the ashes may vary to acertain extent depending on the type of oil

shale used.

Use of oil shale in bricks and cement pro-duction was successfully carried out in theGerman oil shale industry. Deutsche Bab-cock AG closely cooperates with PortlandZementwerk Dotternhausen Rudolf Rohr-bach KG, where two fluidized bed firedpower station units have been operating fora number of years, each generating 3 MWby oil shale combustion to provide powerfor the cement works, making it less inde-pendent of the public grid. The combustion

residues are delivered to the cement workswhere they are ground together with ce-ment clinker. In this way oil shale has adual function as a source of energy and rawmaterial for cement production.

By grinding 70 parts of Portland cementclinker together with 30 parts of oil shalecombustion residues, the so-called oil shalecement is produced in Dotternhauses whichhardens quickly and has pozzolanitic prop-erties.

It has some properties as normal Portlandcement and the heat of hydration of thistype of cement is low. More than 300 000tons of oil shale cements are produced an-nually while the power station generates84000 MWh annually. The history of thisplant began in the year 1939 by the foun-der of the company Eng. Rudolf Rohrbach.

Private Investment Approaches

The energy sector is considered as an infra-structure service sector, which is crucial toeconomic growth. In 1985, the JordanCouncil of Ministers took a decision to adoptprivatization and outlined the ideas and ac-tions as to convert a number of public cor-porations to shareholding companies thatwork on commercial basis and to allow theprivate sector to participate in the owner-ship of some public corporations and par-ticipate in its management. Jordan has also


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adopted the economic reform program,which includes the restructuring and priva-tization of a number of public enterprisesincluding the power sector.

In 1996, a new electricity law was issuedthat allows the private sector to participatein building, operating and owning powergeneration facilities to highlight potentialinvestments in Jordan with special empha-sis on the new investment ventures such asBuild, Operate and Transfer (BOT), Build,Own and Operate (BOO).

Jordan through the modification of its in-vestment and electricity laws aimed at cre-ating a suitable environment to attract pri-vate investment within the country andfrom abroad in financing and operating theproposed infrastructure projects, this in-cludes oil shale projects. This approach in-jects elements of new source of capital andenhances competition into sectors to pro-vide lower costs, better levels of servicesand transfer of financial and technical riskswhich the private sector is better able tohandle.

Oil shale utilization processes require largefinancial expenditures beyond Jordan'smeans therefore, the BOO or BOT schemesseems to be the perfect solution.

The project concept is that the inves-tor/contractor constructs a facility that util-izes oil shale through the known technolo-gies mainly; direct burning for power pro-duction or by retorting for oil and gas pro-duction. This will require that the govern-ment should provide the necessary guar-antees to enable the contractor to sell theoutput products for a period of time. Fig. 13is a schematic diagram of the BOT conceptfor an oil shale retorting plant.

Jordan's Strategy for Oil Shale UseTriggered by the fact that Jordan imports95% of its energy needs and coupled withthe impact of the current rising oil prices,the need for developing indigenous energyresource is set as a high priority on thenational agenda of the government ofJordan. The Government of Jordan hasadopted a new policy for the development

of oil shale resources with minimum risks tothe country. The Ministry of Energy andMineral Resources (MEMR) has invitedqualified companies to submit theirproposals with proven technology and

experience in oil shale to establish aprivately owned oil shale projects based ona Build, Own and Operate (BOO) scheme toproduce oil and electricity. The requestedproposals shall include comprehensivefeasibility study, basic financial terms andconditions along with total benefits toJordan.

A decision was made after the most attrac-tive and acceptable three offers were re-ceived by MEMR from interested partiesafter a transparent evaluation process. This

will be followed by good faith negotiationson concluding oil shale agreements.

The Government's approach / policy for oil shale is summarized as follows :

Provide all available related data free ofcharge.

Keep the door open for any companywho is interested to invest in the oilshale development.

Grant exploration and mining rights forareas with adequate deposits, whether

for pilot or commercial projects; for ei-ther oil extraction or power generation.

Sign long term purchase agreements ofthe energy product of any oil shaleproject.

Facilitate all the logistics needed for oilshale utilization.

The GOJ is becoming more aware of thecritical energy situation and the associatedenvironmental problems related to the con-ventional oil that are considered as pressingfactor toward searching for various alterna-

tive options to suit Jordan's economy. Thefocus of attention will be directed towardsthe practical issues of the offer that will besubmitted by the Canadian company Sun-cor for implementing a retorting oil shaleproject rated 17000 b/d. If this initial stagedemonstrated success along with the firstoperational oil shale project in Australiarated 4,500 b/d, the GOJ will look favorably


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on granting the development firms the rightto continue expanding in other projectsbased on BOO scheme.

Conclusion

The recent increases in world oil prices andthe certain lately achieved technology de-velopments present a rich opportunity toconsider issues and options for taking astrategic approach to oil shale develop-ment, to ensure, among other goals, thateconomically, technologically, and environ-mentally sound approaches to resource de-velopment are pursued.

Oil shale technologies have been rapidlydeveloped to accommodate oil shale utili-zation economically and cleanly to a point

where the cost of extraction and processingof oil shale is competitive with conventionalcrude oil.

At current level of conventional crude oil of$60/bbl, producing oil from shale becomeseconomically viable.

With this improvement in technology, Jor-dan will be able to become self-sufficient in

oil production, consumption and exportingThe GOJ has taken essential measures toencourage foreign investments in oil shaleprocessing and utilization. The new invest-ment law and the new electricity law will

provide equal opportunities to capable de-velopers to establish a privately owned oilshale projects.

Due to the importance of oil shale to Jordanas the only major proven indigenous energysource, extensive studies were carried outwith an objective to assess the quality andthe quantity and the suitability of using oilshale as a reliable energy source.

The studies have indicated that Jordan pos-sesses a large quantity of good quality oilshale. All tests have proven the environ-mental, technical and economical feasibilityand the studies have recommended thatpilot demonstration plants should be con-structed prior to embarking upon any com-mercial scale project.

Once clear indications are in hand thatmajor firms are ready to invest in scalingup and demonstrating oil shale technolo-

Figure 19: Current international activity in oil shale development

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gies, government attention should be di-rected at gathering long lead time informa-tion required to support future oil shaleutilization.

The R&D that took place worldwide, com-bined with the ongoing operations and re-cent testing abroad, supports the judgmentthat mining and surface retorting is a tech-nically viable approach for producing stra-tegically significant amounts of oil.

The government of Jordan believes that oilshale utilization for power generation andretorting should be pursued because it willresult in significant energy supply securityand savings in foreign exchange and createnew jobs.

The oil shales in Jordan are considered byinternational standard as highest grade oilshales which are available at shallow over-burden near the existing infrastructureneeded for an oil shale industry.

It is appropriate to begin the demonstrationstage when basic uncertainties have beenresolved and the new information gainedindicates that the demonstration will gener-ate information about other remaining un-certainties associated with a much largerscale effort.

References

1 Oil Shale J.R. Dyni US GeologicalSurvey, Feb. 2000

2 NRA Technical and Annual Reports

3 Royal Scientific Society BOT, BOOT,BOO "New Investment Schemes"-Amman, March 1996

4 The Higher Council for Science andTechnology Dr. Fawaz El-Karmi/ Di-rector of the Energy Sector "Energy

Security of Supply and Oil Resources".5 Bechtel Study 1988.

6 The World Bank Industrial and EnergyDepartment Working paper #11"Technology Survey Report on ElectricalPower Systems" Feb. 1989.

7 Federal Institute for Geosciences andNatural Resources Hannover Ger-

many. Technical cooperation project #78.2165.5 "Investiagting of the OilShale Deposits July 1985.

8 AOSTRA Taciuk Process (ATP) 60 BPDDemonstration Plant Test Operationson Jordanian Oil Shale Run Report. Pre-pared by UMATAC Industrial Process forSuncor Jan. 1999.

9 Japan National Oil Corporation Eco-nomic Evaluation of EL-Lajjun Oil ShaleDeposits in Jordan May 1995.

10 Institute of Chemistry, Estonian Acad-emy of Science Tallinn 1991. J. KANN,K. UROV.

11 Thesis of Master of Science in Chemistry Sawsan Abdel-Hafiz Shraim Adsorp-tion Properties of Properties of Phenolson Oil Shale Comparison With OtherAdsorbents. 1993.

12 Oil Shale Magazine 1991 V. 8 No. 2

13 Oil Shale in Jordan By Heinz Hufnagel Federal Institute for Geosciences andNatural Resources, Hannover.

14 Summary Information on U.S. EasternOil Shale and Conversion Processes Gas Development Corporation.

15 Oil Shale 1993 Vol. 10 No. 2-3, V. Yefi-mov "Development of Oil Shale Proc-essing Industry in Estonia".

16 Extraction and characterization of theEl-Lajjun Oil Shale - Bassam J. Masri,1998.

17 Tamimi, A . And Uysal, B. Z., Separ,Sci. and Tech. 25 (11 & 12), 1151(1990).

18 Anabtawi, M. Z. And Uysal, B. Z., Separ.Sci and Tech., 30 (17), 3363 (1995).

19 Beginning of an Oil Shale Industry inAustralia Bruce Wright SPP/ CPM,Australia.

20 Different Tests Technical and Economi-cal Reports.

jordan oil shale studies

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