US2725939A

US2725939A - Apparatus for producing oil from oil shale in situ

Info

Publication number: US2725939A
Application number: US362797A
Authority: US
Inventors: Belser Carl
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-06-19
Filing date: 1953-06-19
Publication date: 1955-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 1972-12-06

Description

C. BELSER Dec. 6, 1955 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OIL. FROM OIL SHALE IN SITU Filed June 19, 1953 calva .SFP

SUPER H54 TEK ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofi 2,725,939 Patented Dec. 6, 1955 Tice APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OIL FROM OIL SHALE 1N SITU Carl Belser, Boulder, Colo. Application June 19, 1953, Serial No. 362,797 1 Claim. (Cl. 166-57) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing oil from oil shale or oil bearing rock without removing the oil bearing shale or rock from its location in the ground.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for producing oil from oil bearing shale or rock which provides for heating the carbonaceous material in the shale or rock to a temperature at which the material separates into its liquid and gaseous components and owing these components through separate conduits from the production level in a well; which utilizes at least a portion of the production gas from the well to produce the necessary heat; which may use either superheated steam or combustion gas as the formation heating medium; which removes the liquid and most of the gas from the well through separate conduits; and which is simple in arrangement, economical to operate, and effective and efficient in operation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claim in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein the single figure is a diagrammatic illustration of an oil well and apparatus for carrying out the method of the invention for producing oil and gas from a formation carrying a carbonaceous material which is non-owable at normal temperatures.

In the arrangement illustrated, the numeral designates a bed or strata of oil bearing formation, such as shale or limestone, carrying a carbonaceous material, known as kerogen, which is non-flowable at normal temperatures, but which, when heated to a predetermined temperature, breaks down into freely owable liquid and gaseous components, and the numeral 11 designates the overburden overlying the oil carrying formation 10. A well 12 extends through the overburden 11 and into or through the formation 10 and has a well casing 13, the portion of which extending into or through the formation 10 is provided with a large number of apertures 14. Suitable plugs 15 and 16, formed of concrete or other suitable material, are disposed in the well at the top and bottom surfaces respectively of the formation 10 and

separate conduits

17, 18 and 19 extend downwardly of the Well through the top plug 15. The conduit 19 terminates at its lower end adjacent the top surface of the bottom plug 16, the conduit 17 terminates at its lower end adjacent the bottom plug 16, but somewhat above the bottom end of the conduit 19, and the conduit 18 termi nates at its lower end above the lower ends of the conduits 1'7 and 19 and near the bottom surface of the top plug 15.

A plant for heating fluid to a temperature above that at which the carbonaceous material in the formation 10 breaks down into its liquid and gaseous components is shown as including a boiler 20, for producing steam, a steam superheater 21 connected to the boiler 20 and to the conduit 17 and a water preheater Z2 connected to the water inlet of the boiler 20. While this plant will produce steam and superheat the steam to a temperature above the predetermined temperature at which the carbonaceous material in the formation 1i) is broken down into its gaseous and liquid components, it is to be understood that a suitable plant may be provided for producing heated combustion gas and that such heated combustion gas may be forced downwardly into the well through the conduit 17 without in any way exceeding the scope of the invention. v

An oil storage tank 23 is provided on the surface near the head of the well and the upper end of the conduit 19vis connected into this tank. A condensing and gas washing device 24 having a water cooled condenser coil 25 therein is connected to the storage tank 23 through conduits 26 and 27 for receiving any gas accumulating in the storage tank 23, condensing any condensible material in this gas and returning the liquid condensate to the storage tank. The upper end of the conduit 1S is connected to the condensing and washing apparatus 24 near the top of this apparatus for introducing gas from the well into the washer and condenser. In addition to the condenser coil 25, the device 24 has at its upper end a suitable sprayhead 28 for directing a spray of water downwardly through the gas in the device to remove any water soluble contents from the gas, the water with the soluble contents of the gas therein being removed from the device 24 through the water outlet conduit 29. A gas pipe 30 leads from the upper portion of the gas washing and condensing device 24 to the burner 31 disposed in the water preheater 22 and to

burners

32 and 33 disposed in the boiler 20 and the superheater 21 respectively, to generate and superheat the steam used as the heating medium for the carbonaceous material in the oil bearing formation. Obviously, the steam generating equipment may be eliminated, if desired, and the combustion products of the gas forced directly to the bottom portion of the well through the conduit 17.

In order to start the well, a connection 34 is provided on the pipe 30, so that an external source of gaseous fuel can be temporarily connected to the

burners

31, 32 and 33 to produce a sufficient quantity of heated fluid to start the production of oil and gas from the well.

With the position of the bottom ends of the

conduits

17, 18 and 19, it will be noted that the heated iiuid is released into the well near the bottom of the oil bearing formation 10 and that the oil from the formation flows into the bottom end of the conduit 19 near the bottom end of the well, while the gas produced from the formation rises in this portion of the well and ows into the bottom end of the conduit 1S above the bottom ends of the

conduits

17 and 19, so that the gas and liquid components of the carbonaceous material are substantially separated in the well and are delivered to the storage and processing equipment at the surface in separated condition. Y

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for producing oil from a stratum of oil shale in situ comprising; a well casing extending from top to bottom of said stratum; sealing plugs extending transversely of said casing at the top and bottom of the stratum, the casing being freely perforated throughout its circumference for the full portion of its length extending between said plugs; a pipe for supplying steam to the portion of the casing between the plugs, a second pipe for leading off gaseous components of the raw shale product, and a third pipe for leading off liquid components of said product, all of said pipes extending from the surface and opening within the casing, the irst at a loca tion near the bottom of the stratum above the lower plug, the second at the top of the stratum below the upper plug, and the third near the bottom of the stratum above the lower plug but at an elevation below the first pipe; means connected with the upper end of the second pipe for breaking down the gaseous component owing through the same into liquid and gaseous parts; means connected with the third pipe for breaking down the liquid component llowing therethrough into liquid and gaseous parts; means for supplying steam through the rst pipe for passage into the stratum through said perforations for breaking down the product thereof into said liquid and gaseous components, for passage of the liquid and gaseous components into the casing through said perforations; means for uniting the gaseous parts of the liquid and gaseous components; and means for uniting the liquid parts of said liquid and gaseous components.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 171,563 Hardison Dec. 28, 1875 193,838 West Aug. 7, 1877 1,422,204 Hoover et al July 1l, 1922 1,433,956 Knox Oct. 31, 1922