Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
  • C10B53/00—Destructive distillation, specially adapted for particular solid raw materials or solid raw materials in special form
  • C10B53/06—Destructive distillation, specially adapted for particular solid raw materials or solid raw materials in special form of oil shale and/or or bituminous rocks
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
  • C10B1/00—Retorts
  • C10B1/02—Stationary retorts
  • C10B1/04—Vertical retorts
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
  • C10B49/00—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials by direct heating with heat-carrying agents including the partial combustion of the solid material to be treated
  • C10B49/02—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials by direct heating with heat-carrying agents including the partial combustion of the solid material to be treated with hot gases or vapours, e.g. hot gases obtained by partial combustion of the charge
  • C10B49/04—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials by direct heating with heat-carrying agents including the partial combustion of the solid material to be treated with hot gases or vapours, e.g. hot gases obtained by partial combustion of the charge while moving the solid material to be treated
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10B—DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS FOR PRODUCTION OF GAS, COKE, TAR, OR SIMILAR MATERIALS
  • C10B49/00—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials by direct heating with heat-carrying agents including the partial combustion of the solid material to be treated
  • C10B49/02—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials by direct heating with heat-carrying agents including the partial combustion of the solid material to be treated with hot gases or vapours, e.g. hot gases obtained by partial combustion of the charge
  • C10B49/04—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials by direct heating with heat-carrying agents including the partial combustion of the solid material to be treated with hot gases or vapours, e.g. hot gases obtained by partial combustion of the charge while moving the solid material to be treated
  • C10B49/06—Destructive distillation of solid carbonaceous materials by direct heating with heat-carrying agents including the partial combustion of the solid material to be treated with hot gases or vapours, e.g. hot gases obtained by partial combustion of the charge while moving the solid material to be treated according to the moving bed type
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
  • C10G1/00—Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal
  • C10G1/02—Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from oil-shale, oil-sand, or non-melting solid carbonaceous or similar materials, e.g. wood, coal by distillation
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
  • C10G9/00—Thermal non-catalytic cracking, in the absence of hydrogen, of hydrocarbon oils
  • C10G9/02—Thermal non-catalytic cracking, in the absence of hydrogen, of hydrocarbon oils in retorts
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C10—PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT
  • C10G—CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVE HYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, OR GASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; MINERAL WAXES
  • C10G9/00—Thermal non-catalytic cracking, in the absence of hydrogen, of hydrocarbon oils
  • C10G9/02—Thermal non-catalytic cracking, in the absence of hydrogen, of hydrocarbon oils in retorts
  • C10G9/04—Retorts

Definitions

• the invention relates to a surface vertical shaft retort (100) heated by an external source, which includes (i) a multifunctional central pipe (1 10), (ii) a top sealing device (120), (iii) a load distribution system (130), (iv) a retorting vessel (140) containing an annular- shaped bed (141) furnished with a set of load pipes (142), spaced among themselves, to form a collecting chamber to gather gas and mist (143), a hot gas injector (144), a cold recycle collector (145) and distributor (146) and a bed control and unloading mechanism (147), (v) a plenun chamber (150) (vi) a device for heat recovery of the spent shale (160) containing a piping network (162) for recirculation and spraying of the retorting water and accumulation hoppers (161) and (vii) a device for dry bottom sealing (170).
• a multifunctional central pipe (1 10
• a top sealing device 120
• this patent application comprises a process to obtain oil and gas from pyro-bituminous oil shale and /or materials which contain organic compounds using the referred surface vertical retort (100) heated by an external source through the following steps (a) load supply, (b) sealing of the load supply, (c) load distribution, (d) gathering and removal of gases and mist, (e) heating and drying of the load, (f) reinjection of the cold-gas recycle stream from stage (i), (g) load pyrolysis, (h) injection of the hot-gas recycle stream, (i) removal of the cold-gas recycle stream, (j) heat recovery from the spent shale, (k) discharge of the annular- shaped bed, (1) cold-gas recycle injection (m) mixture of the cold recycle stream with water vapor stream, (n) collection in the accumulation hoppers of discharged spent material, (o) spraying of the recycled retorting water, (p) water vapor generation by the contact of the recycled retorting water with the re
• Oil is an energy source with universal reach, which has been in large use for more than a century. However, a decline in its production capacity, as well as an increase in its price, is already noticeable.
• the process to obtain hydrocarbon from pyro- bituminous oil shale occurs through a process of pyrolysis of the rock, basic principle of all processes.
• the kerogen organic matter that originates oil and gas, is found, in solid form, inside the mineral matrix of the rock.
• the ore is heated to a specific temperature, the molecule of kerogen is decomposed (fragmented into chains with smaller numbers of carbons), forming a mixture of hydrocarbons and others gases.
• the existing processes worldwide may be classified into two main categories: processes that are performed on the surface and those which are performed in the subsurface, also known as in situ.
• the subsurface processes (in situ), despite being based on the premise of eliminating mining and ore processing, thereby reducing costs with these activities and with the recovery of the mined area, do not reach economically viable levels.
• the greatest difficulty found by the in situ processes is related to heat transfer, which impacts the control of the process and the use of oil/ gas existing in the deposit, and, as a result, reduces the deposit exploitation.
• in situ processes present a high potential of groundwater contamination by oil, gas and chemical products used to open slits in the oil shale layer which cannot be fully removed from the retorting site.
• oil shale needs to be previously mined, crushed and classified to meet the range of particle size requested by the particular process which it will undergo. All these operations and their related operations (dust and noise suppression, mined area recovery, etc.) contribute towards an increase of the final cost of the produced oil.
• the surface processes can also be classified according to the range of the particle size of the material to be processed. Therefore, there are processes that operate with fine materials (particles), usually below 10 mm, and processes that operate with granular material, generally between 10 mm and 75 mm.
• the surface processes that operate on the base of a fine grain size are normally performed in horizontal retorts (reactors) or with small rotational inclination, similar to calcination kilns in the cement industry. These processes generally use the burning of the spent shale inside the retort as a source of heat, which can be complemented by an external source to the retort such as the burning of a portion of the pyrolysis products or by the return of the ashes from the combustion of the spent shale performed externally.
• Fluidized bed reactors have been tested recently. They use the recirculation gas technique and require the load to be in a much finer particle size, generally less than 2 mm. No promising data have yet been shown regarding this process, though.
• the processes performed with fine particle size generally produce high density and high viscosity oil, which displays a high level of fine particles in the produced oil, making it difficult to filter, and presenting a lower yield factor in comparison to the processes operated with granular materials.
• Galoter As an example of a process that operates with oil shale fines, there is the retorting process Galoter, from Estonia, capable to process 3,000 tons per day on a horizontal rotational retort, similar to a clinker furnace that operates with an oil shale particle size below 25 mm.
• the Galoter process has a yield around 75% in oil on the standard Fischer assay, and is considered complex and of difficult operation (QIAN J. and WANG J. World Oil Shale Retorting Technologies - China Petroleum University - Beijing 100101 China, 2006).
• the improved version of the Galoter process named EnefiT process, uses the heat from the ashes of the burned oil shale for pyrolysis, adding new peripheral equipment and making it more complex and difficult to operate.
• the retorting process ATP (Alberta Taciuk Process), developed by UMATAC Industrial Processes, which was originally developed to process tar sands and was, subsequently, adapted to process pyro-bituminous oil shale, uses a horizontal rotational retort and operates with oil shale with a particle size below 25 mm. The process has a yield around 85% in oil on the standard Fischer assay.
• the retorting processes that operate with granular material generally use fixed vertical retorts (reactors), i.e. non- rotational ones, containing various load sealing systems, several constructions of retorting vessels to perform the pyrolysis stage and different retorted material discharge systems.
• the necessary heat for effecting the pyrolysis stage can be produced internally, by burning the loaded material, whether it be complemented or not by burning the by-products of the pyrolysis (so- called combustion gas), or externally, by the heating in a furnace of a portion of the gas stream that is recirculated to the retort.
• combustion gas by-products of the pyrolysis
• part of the products is burnt and the produced gas is contaminated with the by-products of the combustion.
• the PetroSix technology developed by Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro), with a processing capacity of 6,200 tonnes per day in an industrial retort that processes oil shale with a particle size between 10 mm and 70 mm and has a yield around 85% in oil on the standard Fischer assay.
• the PetroSix retorting process uses a system of dry sealing on top and a hydraulic sealing at the bottom (spent shale exit from the reactor) which results in significant water consumption in the process and, as a result, brings major difficulties in applying this process in regions with poor water availability.
• Keviter process a technology developed by an Estonian company, Viru Keemia, has the processing capacity of 1 ,000 tonnes per day, operating oil shale with a particle size from 10 to 125 mm.
• the load supply, the gravity flow and the sealing are very similar to the PetroSix process, including the use of sealing with water at the bottom of the retort; however, the required heat for the oil shale pyrolysis is provided by two rectangular combustors located in the middle of the cylindrical reactor, characterizing it as a gas combustion process. In these combustors, process gases are injected and the combustion of these gases provides the necessary heat for the oil shale pyrolysis.
• the oil vapors and the gas produced in the pyrolysis, along with the combustion gases, are removed by two collectors on the retort upper side. Part of the process gas is injected into the retort bottom to recover the spent shale heat which descends by gravity from the pyrolysis zone.
• the spent shale is not burnt and contains organic matter residues; the gas resulting from the process is poor, contaminated with nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
• the oil yield in the Keviter retorting process is 75% on the standard Fischer assay.
• Fuschun Generator Type gas combustion
• the Fushun retort presents a stricture in the middle of the reactor which separates the retort into two parts, the upper portion, where the oil shale is pyrolyzed, and the lower portion, where the spent shale is burnt.
• a hot recycle preheated in an external furnace, is injected to complement the necessary heat for the pyrolysis of the oil shale.
• the produced gas has poor quality, contaminated by nitrogen and carbon dioxide, which limits reuse.
• the process yield is greatly reduced because part of the oil is burnt inside of the reactor (retort). This is considered to be a small capacity process and poses major environmental issues.
• US patent application US 2009/0050532 describes a shale oil extraction technology (SOT - Shale Oil Technology) which has a vertical retort with gravity-based outflowing and sealing by rotating valves, as well as distribution of the material by inclined septa (flow interference) of internal combustion.
• SOT - Shale Oil Technology shale oil extraction technology
• the American patent US 4.151.047 provides an apparatus for the supply of pyro-bituminous oil shale into a series of retorts, where each retort is equipped with a rotational distribution spout and a central supply channel, such retort being radially arranged from a distribution oil shale central tower. At least one hopper communicates with a central supply channel, linking it to the retort and being laterally displaced in relation to the retort longitudinal axis. Furthermore, conveyor belts are provided to transfer the oil shale from the central distribution tower to the hoppers of each retort.
• the Brazilian patent PI 8606369 held by Petrobras - Petroleo Brasileiro SA and expired in 22/ 12/2001 , deals with the improvement in the equipment and in the process to obtain oil, gas and by-products from pyro-bituminous oil shale and other hydrocarbons impregnated materials.
• This patent describes a retorting process, called PetroSix, which uses a retort containing (a) a rotational top sealing system consisting of two apparatus in series with rotating vanes to transport the material horizontally from one apparatus to the other, (b) an an ti- segregation mechanism composed by a rotor that distributes the material in a single point, (c) hot gases injection device comprised by six ducts of irregular hexagon shape, transversal to the bed held in shell sockets diametrically opposed, (d) a discharging device consisting of concentric annular steel plates, disposed at a predetermined distance from each other, there being deflectors over the gaps between the steel plates in the shape of inverted V that prevent the free flow of material, (e) a retorting vessel that operates with a continuous moving bed in a complete circular section from the top of the bed to the annular steel plates of the discharge mechanism and (f) a removing and bottom sealing device comprising an inclined flight conveyor filled with water which effects the sealing
• the American patent US 3.519.539 relates to an oil shale retorting process conducted through a vertical retort, where the gas recycle is used to cool down the spent shale in a cooling zone, air is mixed with gas recycle and the mixture burns in an internal combustion zone (gas combustion) above the cooling zone.
• the American patent US 4.029.220 refers to an apparatus to load the particulate material into a container that contains rotational load distribution facilities to distribute the loaded particulate material in the retort, which means that the load distributor can provide greater uniformity on the distribution of various particles sizes and can also provide and maintain a production line with the desired profile and in the container height.
• the distribution facility includes a hopper with a plurality of chutes rigidly fixed, extending downwards with lower discharging portions that discharge in concentric circular zones in the production line.
• the distribution facility includes a segmented portion at the hopper junction and the chutes which divide the material from the discharged load into the hopper in the proportion of the circular zone in the production line, which is supplied by the chute.
• the distribution facility operates completely filled with the supplied material (full capacity) to provide particulate mass flow through the chutes and to avoid the segregation among the larger and smaller particles of the loaded material, deposited on the bed level.
• the American patent US 5.041.210 relates to an oil shale retorting process on a vertical retort, where the gas recycle containing the produced steam and gas is separated from the exhaustion gas of the retort and is used to heat the oil shale.
• Steam exists in a quantity (in volume) of gas recycle of at least 40% and, preferably 70%.
• the minimum particle size of pyro- bituminous oil shale is so that the particles are retained on a screen with openings of 1 /4 inch.
• the maximum particle size is so that the particles are capable of passing through a screen with openings of 3 inches.
• the applicant of this patent request has developed a surface vertical retort (100) with an external heating source and a process to obtain oil and gas from pyro-bituminous oil shale and/or materials which contain organic compounds, performed by the operation of the mentioned retort (100).
• Figure 1 shows a frontal view of the surface vertical retort (100), according to this invention, where it is shown:
• the present invention relates to a surface vertical shaft retort (100), heated by an external source, which includes (i) a multifunctional central pipe (1 10), (ii) a top sealing device (120), (iii) a load distribution system (130), (iv) a retorting vessel (140) containing an annular- shaped bed (141) furnished with a set of load pipes (142), spaced among themselves, forming a collecting chamber to gather gas and mist (143), a hot gas injector (144), a cold recycle collector (145) and distributor (146) and a bed control and unloading mechanism ( 147), (v) a plenun chamber (150) (vi) a device for heat recovery of the spent shale (160) containing a piping network (162) for recirculation and spraying of the retorting water and accumulation hoppers (161) and (vii) a device for dry bottom sealing (170).
• a multifunctional central pipe (1 10
• a top sealing device 120
• this patent application comprises a process to obtain oil and gas from pyro- bituminous oil shale and/ or materials which contain organic compounds using the referred surface vertical retort (100) heated by an external source through the following steps (a) load supply, (b) sealing of the load supply, (c) load distribution, (d) collection and removal of gases and mist, (e) heating and drying of the load, (f) reinjection of gas stream from the cold-gas recycle from stage (i), (g) load pyrolysis, (h) injection of the hot-gas recycle stream, (i) removal of the cold-gas recycle stream, (j) heat recovery of the spent material, (k) discharge of the annular- shaped bed, (1) cold-gas recycle injection (m) mixture of the cold recycle stream with the water vapor stream, (n) collection in the accumulation hoppers of discharged spent material, (o) spraying of the recycled retorting water, (p) vapor generation by the contact of the recycled retorting water with the retor
• the invention refers to an externally heated surface vertical shaft retort (100) of large capacity, particularly about 5,000 to 10,000 metric tonnes per operation day, consisting of:
• a top sealing device comprised by a flow switcher ( 121) by alternating batches, supply/ emptying independent hoppers (122) with sealing valves (125), optionally, with injection of inert gas and a flow controller/ metering system (123) placed underneath the valves at the junction (124), the stated controller/ metering system consisting of shell, stationary table and rotor equipped with blades;
• load distribution system (130) positioned below the stationary table, which consists of one rotational distribution hopper (131) divided into circular sectors proportional to the concentric annulus in the bin that will be supplied; such circular sectors dispersedly supply the tubular chutes (132), which discharge in free fall between the chutes ends and the load level in the bin (134), distributing the material continuously and uniformly in the annular space of the bin, located between the bin shell and the multifunctional central pipe (1 10); moreover, the distribution system comprises a series of septa in concentric trunk- conical shape (133) arranged around the multifunctional central pipe (1 10) between the load level in the bin (134) and the supply pipes assembly (142);
• the mentioned bed movement mechanism (147) placed at the bottom of the bed (141) comprises a plurality of radial tables (149A) in circular sector shape with gaps among them; the gaps among the tables are entirely obstructed by a coverage in ridge-shaped cap (roof) (149B) and supported on a set of radial beams (149C), being the mentioned radial beams (149C) still supported on the retort shell and on the multifunctional central pipe (1 10); additionally, on the tables, (149A) a set of interconnected scrappers (149D) with angular shuttle movements driven externally to the retort shell; a hot gas injector (144) (hot-gas recycle) composed of drilled radial (144A) circumferential (144B) ducts with variable rectangular section which are housed in nozzles in the external retort shell and are supported in holders in the multifunctional central pipe ( 1 10); such ducts (144A e 144B) of the gas injector (144) are also
• the radial ducts (145A) of the cold-gas recycle collector (145) can be connected to external pipes to the retort shell wall and supported in the multifunctional central pipe (1 10).
• the retorting vessel (140) has a cold-gas recycle distributor (146) formed by drilled radial and circumferential ducts (146A) with irregular pentagon-shaped sections located above the hot gas injector (144), being the radial ducts (146B) connected by nozzles to the multifunctional central pipe (110) and supported, in the opposite end, by the wall of the retort shell, and can, optionally, be supported in the multifunctional central pipe (1 10) and connected to external pipes to the retort.
• the retorting vessel (140) also provides a dust removal device (112) (dragged by the cold-gas recycle), positioned at the nozzles height (1 1 1) of the gas collector (145) with the multifunctional central pipe (1 10), internally to it, comprising a segment of a smaller diameter pipe, with a diameter from 40% to 90% of the multifunctional central pipe (1 10) and concentric to the said central pipe (1 10).
• the dust removal device (1 12) is open at its lower portion and sealed at its upper portion;
• a plenun chamber located below the moving bed mechanism (147), containing nozzles (151) in the retort shell for the entrance of a stream of cold-gas recycle;
• a device for final heat recovery of the retorted material consisting of a network of pipes with sprinklers (162) of water supplied through the multifunctional central pipe (110) or through the retort shell and trunk-conical shaped accumulation hoppers ( 161), located below the free space, sectioned on the sides in order to intersect each other; and
• devices for dry bottom sealing (170), attached to the accumulation hoppers' (161) exit which consists of a flow metering system ( 171), consisting of a stationary table and a rotor equipped with blades arranged inside the accumulation hopper (161), optionally containing a water sprinkler located below the mentioned metering system (171), a stationary table, a system of sealing valves (172) which consists of an upper valve (172), an intermediate link/ accumulation neck (173), which can optionally inject inert gas, and a lower valve (172) and direction chute (174) for a continuous transport system.
• a flow metering system 171
• a rotor equipped with blades arranged inside the accumulation hopper (161) optionally containing a water sprinkler located below the mentioned metering system (171), a stationary table
• a system of sealing valves (172) which consists of an upper valve (172), an intermediate link/ accumulation neck (173), which can optionally inject inert gas, and a lower valve (172) and direction chute (174) for a continuous
• this patent application also reflects a process to obtain oil and gas from pyro-bituminous oil shale and/or materials containing organic compounds through the use of a vertical retort (100), being the process to obtain oil and gas performed through the following steps:
• step (e) heating and drying of the load by heat exchange performed by the contact between the mixture of the ascending gas in the bed above the distributor of the cold-gas recycle and the simultaneous cooling of the gas stream with the consequent formation of oil mist.
• the ascending stream consists of the mixture of hot gas stream with the gas stream produced by the pyro lysis process and the gas stream with temperatures of 300 to 400°C, reinjected in step (f) and preheated by the heat exchange with the retorted load, diverted from the bed located below the hot gas injector (144);
• the used materials and loads in the process to obtain oil and gas can be oil shale, its derivatives and/or materials which contain organic compounds.
• the technology described by the present invention, the retort, its devices and the process to obtain oil and gas provide a series of mechanical and processes innovations which increase the energy recovery contained in the ore and eliminates the need of an external water supply in the retort.
• the retorting process took place inside the surface vertical shaft retort (100) of the invention and comprised the steps of heating the ore to a temperature of approximately 500°C, by an externally heated gas stream, producing gas, oil and water vapor.
• the heat supplied by the gas stream with temperatures around 480°C is composed by the processing gas and is distributed along the transversal section of the retort through radial and circumferential injectors.
• the gas flowed in a counter flow direction to the oil shale and drained by gravity. Simultaneously to the heating, the gas promoted the removal of the products generated by the pyrolysis of the oil shale.
• the oil shale now called spent shale (retorted)
• spent shale retorted
• a gas stream at low temperature was injected in order to cool the spent shale down, while recovering part of the heat contained in the spent shale.
• the gas stream then passed through a dust collector device, which removed most of the dust dragged out of the retort.
• the gas was reintroduced into the upper bed by a distribution device. At this point it was mixed with the effluent gas from the pyrolysis region and flowed to the top of the bed, providing heat for drying and heating of the raw oil shale that flowed in counterflow.
• the gas stream was collected in a chamber where it was removed for external processing by nozzles in the retort shell.
• the descending mass of spent shale passed by the collector of cold-gas recycle and came in contact with the ascendant gas stream at low temperature, warming it and resulting in the progressive reduction of its temperature until it reaches the bed control and movement mechanism.
• the flowing of the oil shale bed in the process was adjusted by the bed control and movement mechanism which, through a shuttle movement of the scrapers located on the radial tables, made the homogeneous transfer of the retorted material bed, to the bottom of the retort.
• the top sealing system (120) of the invention aimed at the continuous loading of oil shale load with an intermediate particle size, ranging from 5 mm to 100 mm, in a reactor containing gases, whether toxic or not, mainly: hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
• the load system was formed by alternating batches between two hoppers. However, both the load reaching the system and its flow to the inside of the retort were made continuously.
• Each of these hoppers was equipped with sealing valves, one in the entrance nozzle and another in the exit nozzle, and received, alternatively and continuously, the oil shale load, previously prepared.
• a device inserted into the load transfer chute to the hoppers alternates, along the cycles, the oil shale flow from one or another hopper.
• the hopper that receives the load has the top valve open and the bottom closed.
• the other hopper necessarily has the top valve closed and the bottom open, allowing the oil shale to be transferred to the inside of the load bin with controlled flow by the flow metering system.
• the control system detects the event and commands a new round, by inverting the function of each hopper, i.e., from load to unload and vice versa.
• the sealing was performed so as to avoid the output of gases to the atmosphere or the inlet of air to the bin, during the transfer of the load into the retort, by the controlled injection of inert gas into the hopper.
• the hopper which received the load was then closed, completing a cycle.
• a control system supervised the operations.
• the flow switcher device Over the hoppers is located the flow switcher device, to which the hoppers were connected, always in pairs and installed side by side.
• the particulate material whose flow was released by the bottom valve of one of the hoppers, passed through the pipe and rested on the table that prevents its free passage.
• the ratio among the diameter of the table, the pipe diameter and the distance between the edge of the pipe and the table were previously defined.
• the spin of the rotor produced a dosed flow of material to the load distribution system.
• the rotational hopper with circular sectors previously dimensioned, received the load, evenly discharged throughout the periphery of the flow metering system's table of the top sealing device.
• Each circular sector of the rotational hopper presented a particular capacity, proportional to the area of the annulus which was supplied.
• Each of the tubular chutes discharged in a specific area of an annulus above the trunk conical septa. The lower end of each tubular chute has a turning radius properly positioned to discharge into a defined annulus.
• the septa in trunk conical shape were sufficient to cover the entire bin area defined by the material bed formed between the multifunctional central pipe and the bin shell. Furthermore, a level control assured that the deposited material below the end of the chutes would not have contact with the chutes themselves, eliminating the possibility of jam.
• the collector beams are connected to the multifunctional central pipe, so that the gases collected through the openings pass to the inside of the multifunctional central pipe.
• the dust dragged by the gas stream, was removed by the device designed for its removal.
• the cold recycle stream Passed the pyrolysis bed, the cold recycle stream, returned via graded pipes for the heating bed of raw oil shale through a distributor physically similar to the collector already mentioned.
• the passing of the cold recycle directly from the bottom bed to the top bed avoided all technical inconveniences of the mixture of cold recycle stream with hot recycle stream in the pyrolysis zone.
• the deviation can be performed by ducts external to the retort shell.
• the retort In the cooling system of the spent shale, the retort has interconnected hoppers that receive the spent shale coming from the bed control and movement mechanism which, besides having transferred the spent shale, has also distributed the material among the hoppers in each cycle of the operation.
• the hoppers have irregular trunk-conical shape that interconnects in their upper part.
• Each hopper has in its upper part a network of pipes equipped with water sprinkles.
• the recycled retorting water that came into contact with the spent shale promoted its cooling and generated water vapor.
• the water vapor stream ascended in the existing free space between the top of the hoppers and the discharge mechanism (plenum chamber), mixed to the gas stream of the cold recycle and ascended through the spent shale bed up to the cold recycle collector.
• the discharge of the oil shale consisted in removing the solid particles already processed, with no escape of gases and/or vapors contained in its interior while preventing the entrance of air.
• the bottom sealing system aimed to continuously discharge the particles, sized in the range up to 100 mm, while maintaining the sealing of the retort.
• Each of the nozzles ending on the hoppers was provided with two valves separated by a duct (neck), both with sealing function.
• a flow metering system device kept the hopper full on its control level and, with this valve in open position and the lower valve closed, continuously discharged, at regular flow, the material from the hopper to the duct (neck) between the valves. When the duct reached its maximum level, the upper valve closed and the lower valve opened.
• valves of the bottom sealing system operated in programmed mode, i.e., the entire sequence of operations was commanded by a controller.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Processing Of Solid Wastes (AREA)
• Production Of Liquid Hydrocarbon Mixture For Refining Petroleum (AREA)
• Muffle Furnaces And Rotary Kilns (AREA)
• Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)

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• 2012
  • 2012-04-18 BR BR102012009128-3A patent/BR102012009128B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2013
  • 2013-03-27 WO PCT/BR2013/000100 patent/WO2013155578A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2013-03-27 AU AU2013248949A patent/AU2013248949A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-03-27 CA CA2870361A patent/CA2870361A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-03-27 CN CN201380020623.9A patent/CN104245888A/zh active Pending
  • 2013-03-27 MA MA37465A patent/MA37465A1/fr unknown
  • 2013-03-27 RU RU2014145951A patent/RU2014145951A/ru not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2013-03-27 US US14/395,228 patent/US20150129465A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2013-03-27 EP EP13778970.7A patent/EP2838976A4/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2014
  • 2014-10-07 IL IL235070A patent/IL235070A0/en unknown
  • 2014-10-17 CL CL2014002809A patent/CL2014002809A1/es unknown

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