The Pumpherston retort (also known as the Bryson retort) was a type of
oil-shale retort used in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
at the end of 19th and beginning of 20th century. It marked separation of the
oil-shale industry from the
coal industry
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when de ...
as it was designed specifically for oil-shale retorting.
The retort is named after
Pumpherston town in Scotland, which was one of the major Scottish oil shale areas. The retort was commercialized by
Pumpherston Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was a British company founded in 1909 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Persia (Iran). The British government purchased 51% of the company in 1914, gaining a controlling number of ...
.
History
The Pumpherston retort was invented and patented in 1894 by William Fraser, James Bryson, and James Jones of Pumpherston Oil Company.
[
] By 1910, 1,528 Pumpherston retorts were used in Scotland.
[ In addition, the retort was used in ]Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.[
] At Newnes
Newnes (), an abandoned oil shale mining site of the Wolgan Valley, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The site that was operational in the early 20th century is now partly surrounded by Wollemi Nationa ...
, in Australia, the Pumpherson design was used, but it was later modified—by adding more off-takes—to make it better suited to oil-rich shale, by John Fell. The resulting design variant was patented by Fell, and was referred to as a 'modified Pumpherson' or 'Fell' retort.
Design
The Pumpherston retort was a high cylindrical vessel containing two main sections.[
] The upper section was made of iron and the lower section was made of fire bricks. The raw oil shale was fed on the top of retort. Shale oil
Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock (kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting oil ca ...
and oil shale gas were distilled at the upper section at the temperature of . At the lower section, the heat rose to and steam was added to produce ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...
. The process required approximately of water equivalent of steam per one ton of oil shale.[
]
The retort had a 15 ton capacity, and the residence time was 24 hours. It was started up by combustion of coal, but after the process started it was switched to the produced oil shale gas.[
]
References
{{Reflist
Oil shale technology
Energy in Scotland
Industrial history of Scotland
1894 introductions
1894 establishments in Scotland
History of West Lothian
Economy of West Lothian