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Oil Shale Economics
Oil shale economics deals with the economic feasibility of oil shale extraction and processing. Although usually oil shale economics is understood as shale oil extraction economics, the wider approach evaluates usage of oil shale as a whole, including for the oil-shale-fired power generation and production of by-products during retorting or shale oil upgrading processes. The economic feasibility of oil shale is highly dependent on the price of conventional oil, and the assumption that the price will remain at a certain level for some time to come. As a developing fuel source the production and processing costs for oil shale are high due to the small nature of the projects and the specialist technology involved. A full-scale project to develop oil shale would require heavy investment and could potentially leave businesses vulnerable should the oil price drop and the cost of producing the oil would exceed the price they could obtain for the oil. Due to the volatile prices and h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shale Oil Extraction
Shale oil extraction is an industrial process for unconventional oil production. This process converts kerogen in oil shale into shale oil by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. The resultant shale oil is used as fuel oil or upgraded to meet refinery feedstock specifications by adding hydrogen and removing sulfur and nitrogen impurities. Shale oil extraction is usually performed above ground (''ex situ'' processing) by mining the oil shale and then treating it in processing facilities. Other modern technologies perform the processing underground (on-site or ''in situ'' processing) by applying heat and extracting the oil via oil wells. The earliest description of the process dates to the 10th century. In 1684, Great Britain granted the first formal extraction process patent. Extraction industries and innovations became widespread during the 19th century. The industry shrank in the mid-20th century following the discovery of large reserves of conventional oil, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shale Oil Extraction
Shale oil extraction is an industrial process for unconventional oil production. This process converts kerogen in oil shale into shale oil by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. The resultant shale oil is used as fuel oil or upgraded to meet refinery feedstock specifications by adding hydrogen and removing sulfur and nitrogen impurities. Shale oil extraction is usually performed above ground (''ex situ'' processing) by mining the oil shale and then treating it in processing facilities. Other modern technologies perform the processing underground (on-site or ''in situ'' processing) by applying heat and extracting the oil via oil wells. The earliest description of the process dates to the 10th century. In 1684, Great Britain granted the first formal extraction process patent. Extraction industries and innovations became widespread during the 19th century. The industry shrank in the mid-20th century following the discovery of large reserves of conventional oil, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kerogen
Kerogen is solid, insoluble organic matter in sedimentary rocks. Comprising an estimated 1016 tons of carbon, it is the most abundant source of organic compounds on earth, exceeding the total organic content of living matter 10,000-fold. It is insoluble in normal organic solvents and it does not have a specific chemical formula. Upon heating, kerogen converts in part to liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons. Petroleum and natural gas form from kerogen. Kerogen may be classified by its origin: lacustrine (e.g., algal), marine (e.g., planktonic), and terrestrial (e.g., pollen and spores). The name "kerogen" was introduced by the Scottish organic chemist Alexander Crum Brown in 1906,''Oxford English Dictionary'' 3rd Ed. (2003) derived from the Greek for "wax birth" (Greek: κηρός "wax" and -gen, γένεση "birth"). The increased production of hydrocarbons from shale has motivated a revival of research into the composition, structure, and properties of kerogen. Many studies have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spent Shale
Spent shale or spent oil shale (also known as retorted shale) is a solid residue from the shale oil extraction process of producing synthetic shale oil from oil shale. It consists of inorganic compounds (minerals) and remaining organic matter known as char—a carbonaceous residue formed from kerogen. Depending on the extraction process and the amount of remaining organic matter, spent shale may be classified as oil shale coke, semi-coke or coke-ash residue, known also as oil shale ash. According to the European Union waste list all these types of spent shale are classified as hazardous waste. Oil shale coke is created by chamber ovens which were used for oil shale gas production. Vertical retorts create mainly semi-coke. Most solid heat carrier processes create coke-ash residue as the semi-coke created during the process is combusted for the process's energy needs. Spent shale can be used as ingredients in cement or brick manufacture. In Jordan, usage of spent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upgrader
An upgrader is a facility that upgrades bitumen (extra heavy oil) into synthetic crude oil. Upgrader plants are typically located close to oil sands production, for example, the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada or the Orinoco tar sands in Venezuela. Processes Upgrading means using fractional distillation and/or chemical treatment to convert bitumen so it can be handled by oil refineries. At a minimum, this means reducing its viscosity so that it can be pumped through pipelines (bitumen is 1000x more viscous than light crude oil). However this process often also includes separating out heavy fractions and reducing sulfur, nitrogen and metals like nickel and vanadium. Upgrading may involve multiple processes: *Vacuum distillation to separate lighter fractions, leaving behind a residue with molecular weights over 400. *De-asphalter, De-asphalting the vacuum distillation residue to remove the highest molecular weight alicyclic compounds, which precipitate as black/brown aspha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retort
In a chemistry laboratory, a retort is a device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a spherical vessel with a long downward-pointing neck. The liquid to be distilled is placed in the vessel and heated. The neck acts as a condenser, allowing the vapors to condense and flow along the neck to a collection vessel placed underneath. In the chemical industry, a retort is an airtight vessel in which substances are heated for a chemical reaction producing gaseous products to be collected in a collection vessel or for further processing. Such industrial-scale retorts are used in shale oil extraction, the production of charcoal and in the recovery of mercury in gold mining processes and hazardous waste. A process of heating oil shale to produce shale oil, oil shale gas, and spent shale is commonly called retorting. Airtight vessels to apply pressure as well as heat are called autoclaves. In the food industry, pressure cookers are often referred to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government and private Financial endowment, endowment, corporations, university, universities and private individuals. The company assists other governments, international organizations, private companies and foundations with a host of defense and non-defense issues, including healthcare. RAND aims for interdisciplinary and quantitative problem solving by translating theory, theoretical concepts from formal economics and the Outline of physical science, physical sciences into novel applications in other areas, using applied science and operations research. Overview RAND has approximately 1,850 employees. Its American locations include: Santa Monica, California (headquarters); Arlington ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Energy Outlook
The annual ''World Energy Outlook'' is the International Energy Agency's flagship publication, widely recognised as the most authoritative source for global energy projections and analysis. It represents the leading source for medium to long-term energy market projections, extensive statistics, analysis and advice for both governments and the energy business. It is produced by the Office of the Chief Economist, presently under the direction of Dr. Fatih Birol. Using a Reference Scenario based on no change in current policies, it enables policy-makers to evaluate their current path. The WEO has also developed an alternative scenario that puts the global energy systems on a trajectory to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions in line with limiting the increase in temperature to 2°C. ''World Energy Outlook'' 2005 to 2011 In even-numbered years, WEO presents detailed projections of energy demand, production, trade and investment, fuel by fuel and region by region. The report also regu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbon Pricing
Carbon pricing (or pricing), also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS), is a method for nations to reduce global warming. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the combustion of coal, oil and gas – the main driver of climate change. The method is widely agreed and considered to be efficient. Carbon pricing seeks to address the economic problem that emissions of and other greenhouse gases (GHG) are a negative externality – a detrimental product that is not charged for by any market. A carbon price usually takes the form of a carbon tax or carbon emission trading, a requirement to purchase allowances to emit. 21.7% of global GHG emissions are covered by carbon pricing in 2021, a major increase due to the introduction of the Chinese national carbon trading scheme. Regions with carbon pricing include most European countries and Canada. On the other hand, top emitters like India, Russia, the Gulf st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing carbon emissions and reaching global climate targets, including the Paris Agreement. The 31 member countries and 11 association countries of the IEA represent 75% of global energy demand. The IEA was set up under the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis to respond to physical disruptions in global oil supplies, provide data and statistics about the global oil market and energy sector, promote energy savings and conservation, and establish international technical collaboration on innovation and research. Since its founding, the IEA has also coordinated use of the oil reserves that its members are required to hold. In subsequent decades, the IEA's role expanded t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Office Of Petroleum Reserves
The United States Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves, established in 1927, is part of the U.S. Department of Energy, responsible for analyzing and monitoring the U.S.'s oil shale reserves. The Pickett Act of 1910 authorized President William Howard Taft to withdraw large areas of potential oil-bearing lands in California and Wyoming as sources of fuel for the U.S. Navy. On July 2, 1910, President Taft set aside federal lands believed to contain oil as an emergency reserve for the U.S. Navy. The Reserves were initially under the control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, but in 1920, the U.S. Navy's Fuel Oil Office assumed responsibility for the Reserves. A year later, President Warren Harding placed the Reserves back under the Department of Interior, only to have the Teapot Dome Scandal force control back to the U.S. Navy. In 1927, the first Office of the Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves was officially created in the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy maintained o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
