Claims
- 1. An in situ process for recovering carbonaceous values from a subterranean deposit comprising the steps of:
- a. developing an in situ rubble pile within a retorting chamber of a subterranean carbonaceous deposit having a retorting fluid entrance and retorting fluid exit, said rubble pile being formed by undercutting at about the base of the carbonaceous deposit to remove a predetermined volume of material and form a sloped floor having a high point at the shortest retorting fluid path between the retorting fluid entrance and the floor and the low point at the periphery of the floor and expanding the deposit to form the in situ rubble pile wherein the bulk permeability of the rubble pile increases from the shortest retorting fluid path to the longest retorting fluid path between the retorting fluid entrance and the retorting fluid exit so that the resistance to retorting fluid flow through the rubble pile along all retorting fluid paths is approximately equal;
- b. establishing the retorting fluid entrance between the rubble pile and a source of retorting fluid;
- c. establishing the retorting fluid exit between the rubble pile and a destination for the retorting fluid, the exit communication with the rubble pile being spaced by at least a portion of the rubble pile from the retorting fluid entrance;
- d. retorting the rubble pile to extract the carbonaceous values therefrom, the retorting step including the passage of the retorting fluid through the rubble pile along the retorting fluid paths; and
- e. recovering the retorted carbonaceous values.
- 2. The process claimed in claim 1 wherein the expansion step includes explosively expanding the subterranean deposit above the undercut.
- 3. The process claimed in claim 1 wherein the floor is formed from a permeable mass over the retorting fluid outlet.
- 4. The process claimed in claim 3 wherein the floor is prepared from the carbonaceous deposit formed in the undercutting operation.
- 5. An in situ process for recovering liquid and gaseous values from subterranean deposits comprising the steps of:
- a. undercutting at least at the base of the subterranean carbonaceous deposit to remove a predetermined volume of material leaving a sloped floor having a high point below a selected retorting fluid entrance and a low point at the periphery of the floor;
- b. expanding the carbonaceous deposit above the floor of the undercut to form a retorting chamber having a rubble pile wherein the bulk permeability of the rubble pile increases from the shortest retorting fluid path to the longest retorting fluid path between the retorting fluid entrance and a retorting fluid exit of said chamber such that the resistance to retorting fluid flow through the rubble pile along retorting fluid paths is approximately equal;
- c. establishing the retorting fluid entrance communication between the upper level of the retorting chamber and a source of retorting fluid to provide an entrance for the retorting fluid;
- d. establishing the retorting fluid exit communication between the base of the retorting chamber and a destination for the retorting fluid;
- e. establishing outlet communication between the base of the retorting chamber and a liquid and gaseous value collector;
- f. vertically downwardly retorting the rubble pile to extract the carbonaceous values therefrom by forcing the retorting fluid from its source through the paths from the retorting fluid entrance to its exit and to the retorting fluids destination while heating the rubble pile to decompose the contained carbonaceous materials to liquid and gaseous values and carbon; and
- g. collecting the liquid and gaseous values from the base of the deposit in the collector.
- 6. The in situ process claimed in claim 5 wherein the vertical height of the rubble pile relative to its width is low.
- 7. The in situ process claimed in claim 5 wherein the horizontal extent of the rubble pile served by the retorting fluid's entrances and exits is large.
- 8. The in situ process claimed in claim 5 wherein the expansion step includes explosively expanding the subterranean deposit above the undercut.
- 9. The in situ process claimed in claim 5 wherein the sloped floor is created from a permeable mass over the retorting fluid exit prior to developing the rubble pile.
- 10. The process claimed in claim 9 wherein the floor is formed from material developed during undercutting.
- 11. An in situ process for recovering carbonaceous values from a subterranean deposit which comprises the steps of:
- a. undercutting at least the base of the subterranean carbonaceous deposit to remove a predetermined volume of material;
- b. doming the ceiling of the deposit and forming a retorting chamber by caving the overlaying deposit into the undercut by caving less shale at the periphery of the deposit than at the center of the deposit to form a rubble pile having a bulk permeability which increases from the shortest retorting fluid path below a central retorting fluid entrance to the longest retorting fluid path between the retorting fluid entrance and a retorting fluid exit of said retorting chamber such that resistance to retorting fluid flow through the rubble pile along retorting fluid paths is approximately equal;
- c. establishing retorting fluid entrance communication between the upper level of the retorting chamber and a source of retorting fluid to provide an entrance for the retorting fluid;
- d. establishing retorting fluid exit communication between the base of the retorting chamber and a destination for the retorting fluid;
- e. establishing outlet communication between the base of the retorting chamber and a liquid and gaseous value collector;
- f. vertically downwardly retorting the rubble pile to extract the carbonaceous values therefrom by forcing the retorting fluid from its source through the paths from the retorting fluid entrance to its exit and to the retorting fluids destination while heating the rubble pile to decompose the contained carbonaceous materials to liquid and gaseous values and carbon; and
- g. collecting the liquid and gaseous values from the base of the deposit in the collector.
- 12. A process as claimed in claim 11 in which caving includes explosively expanding the subterranean deposit above the undercut.
- 13. An in situ process for recovering carbonaceous values from a subterranean deposit which comprises the steps of:
- a. undercutting at least the base of the subterranean carbonaceous deposit to remove a predetermined volume of material;
- b. expanding the carbonaceous deposit above the undercut to form a retorting chamber and doming the top of the rubble pile so that the bulk permeability of the rubble pile increases from the shortest retorting fluid path below a selected retorting fluid entrance to the longest retorting fluid path between the retorting fluid entrance and a retorting fluid exit of said retorting chamber such that the resistance to retorting fluid flow through the rubble pile along retorting fluid path is approximately equal;
- c. establishing retorting fluid entrance communication between the upper level of the retorting chamber and a source of retorting fluid to provide an entrance for the retorting fluid;
- d. establishing retorting fluid exit communication between the base of the retorting chamber and a destination for the retorting fluid;
- e. establishing outlet communication between the base of the retorting chamber and a liquid and gaseous value collector;
- f. vertically downwardly retorting the rubble pile to extract the carbonaceous values therefrom by forcing the retorting fluid from its source through the paths from the retorting fluid entrance to its exit and to the retorting fluids destination while heating the rubble pile to decompose the contained carbonaceous materials to liquid and gaseous values and carbon; and
- g. collecting the liquid and gaseous values from the base of the deposit in the collector.
- 14. A process as claimed in claim 13 in which expansion of the carbonaceous deposit is explosive.
- 15. A method of fragmenting a subterranean formation containing oil shale to form an in situ oil shale retort having fluid flow paths of differing lengths and differing bulk permeability from a fluid entrance at the top to the base of the in situ oil shale retort for equalizing flow rates of fluid along such paths, which comprises the steps of:
- excavating a portion of the formation to form a void at the base of the in situ oil shale retort which is being formed; and
- caving oil shale from above the void into the void such that a smaller portion of the volume of the void is distributed through the oil shale in the shortest path from the fluid entrance to the base of the in situ oil shale retort than is distributed through oil shale in a longer path therebetween.
- 16. A method as recited in claim 15 wherein the height of the void is different in different portions of the void and the shortest height is at the position in the retort being formed where the distance from the fluid entrance to the base is the shortest.
- 17. A method as recited in claim 15 wherein the void has a floor sloping towards a fluid exit and further comprising the step of placing broken shale in the void, before caving, to different depths at different portions of the void such that the height of the void is different in different portions of the void and the shortest height of the void is at the position in the retort being formed where the distance from the fluid entrance to the base is the shortest.
- 18. A method of fragmenting a subterranean formation containing oil shale to form an in situ oil shale retort having fluid flow paths of differing lengths and differing bulk permeability from a fluid entrance at the top to the base of the in situ oil shale retort for equalizing flow rates of fluid along such paths, which comprises the steps of:
- excavating a portion of the formation to form a void at the base of the in situ oil shale retort which is being formed; and
- caving a volume of oil shale from above the void towards the void for forming a rubble pile;
- said void and said volume of oil shale being shaped in the excavating and caving steps for non-uniformly distributing void volume in the rubble pile so that the rubble pile of oil shale is more densely packed in the shortest path from the fluid entrance to the base of the in situ oil shale retort than in a longer path therebetween.
- 19. A method as recited in claim 18 wherein the height of the void is different in different portions of the void, and the shortest height is at the position in the retort being formed where the distance from the fluid entrance to the base is the shortest.
- 20. The method of claim 18 wherein the height of the oil shale to be caved is different in different portions of the retort and the greatest height is at the position in the retort being formed where the distance from the fluid entrance to the base is the shortest.
- 21. A method of fragmenting a subterranean formation containing oil shale to form an in situ oil shale retort having fluid flow paths of differing lengths and differing bulk permeability from a fluid entrance to a fluid exit for equalizing flow rates of fluid along such paths, which comprises the steps of:
- excavating a portion of the formation to form a void at the base of the in situ oil shale retort which is being formed; and
- caving a volume of oil shale from above the void towards the void for forming a rubble pile;
- shaping said void and said volume of oil shale in the excavating and caving steps for non-uniformly distributing void volume in the rubble pile so that the rubble pile of oil shale is more densely packed in the shortest path in the in situ oil shale retort from the fluid entrance to the fluid exit than in a longer path from the fluid entrance to the fluid exit.
- 22. A method as recited in claim 21 wherein the height of the void is different in different portions of the void, and the shortest height is at the position in the retort being formed where the distance from the fluid entrance to the fluid exit is the shortest.
- 23. The method of claim 21 wherein the fluid entrance is at the top and the fluid exit is at the base of the in situ oil shale retort and is vertically aligned with the fluid entrance and wherein the height of the oil shale to be caved is different in different portions of the retort and the greatest height is at the position in the retort being formed where the distance from the fluid entrance to the base is the shortest.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 385,319, filed Aug. 3, 1973, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
385319 |
Aug 1973 |
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