Claims
- 1. A system for retorting oil shale, comprising:
- a static mixer having an upper free-fall section with a domed roof and a lower elongated deflector section, said deflector section having a greater diameter than said upper section, said static mixer having a vertical axis and having only stationary parts and components consisting of six vertically spaced tiers of triangular-shaped internals having upwardly pointing apexes in said deflector section, alternate tiers of said internals being spaced substantially parallel and at about right angles to adjacent tiers as viewed from said roof, said tiers extending substantially horizontally across said deflector section, said six tiers, as viewed from said roof, consisting of first and second tiers having only three triangular-shaped internals of substantially the same size, and third, fourth, fifth and sixth tiers positioned beneath said first and second tiers and having similarly sized triangular-shaped internals, said internals in said first and second tiers being smaller than the internals in said third through sixth tiers, the third and fourth tiers each having three triangular-shaped internals, the first through fourth tiers each having a center internal with an apex positioned substantially along said vertical axis, said first through fourth tiers each having outer internals with the apexes of the outer internals of the third and fourth tiers spaced laterally inwardly of the outer internals in the first and second tiers, the fifth and sixth tiers each having two intermediate triangular-shaped internals and two downwardly and inwardly sloping outer internals with the apexes of the intermediate internals being spaced outwardly and offset from the apexes of said center internals of the first through fourth tiers, said outer internals in said fifth and sixth tiers being spaced outwardly from said outer internals in said third and fourth tiers, said six tiers of internals being arranged to cooperate with each other in the above manner to substantially completely mix and randomly distribute raw and spent oil shale together in said deflector section;
- a raw oil shale feed line positioned at an angle of about 30 degrees relative to said vertical axis and connected to said domed roof;
- a solid heat carrier material feed line positioned at an angle of about 30 degrees relative to said vertical axis and at an inclusive angle of about 60 degrees relative to said raw oil shale feed line and connected to said domed roof, said feed lines are positioned at an acute angle of about 22.5 degrees relative to said apex of said center internal of said first tier of triangular-shaped internals as viewed from said domed roof;
- a surge bin positioned below and communicating with said deflector section for substantially completing the retorting of said raw oil shale;
- a combustor connected to said surge bin for combusting said retorted shale; and
- a separator connected to said surge bin for separating at least one fraction of shale oil from hydrocarbons liberated from said raw oil shale in said bin.
- 2. A system for retorting oil shale, comprising:
- a static mixer having an upper free-fall section with a top and a lower elongated deflector section, said deflector section having a greater diameter than said upper section, said static mixer having a vertical axis and having only stationary parts and components consisting of ten vertically spaced rows of triangular-shaped internals comprising baffles having upwardly pointing apexes in said deflector section, alternate rows of said baffles being spaced substantially parallel and at about right angles to adjacent rows as viewed from said top, said rows extending substantially horizontally across said deflector section, said baffles in all ten rows being of substantailly the same size, said ten rows, as viewed from said top, consisting of first and second rows having three uniformly spaced triangular shaped baffles, third, fourth, fifth and sixth rows having five uniformly spaced triangular-shaped baffles, a seventh row having four uniformly spaced triangular-shaped baffles, an eighth row having three uniformly spaced triangular-shaped baffles, a ninth row having two uniformly spaced triangular-shaped baffles, and a tenth row having one triangular-shaped baffle positioned along the vertical axis, said ten rows of baffles cooperating with each other to substantially mix raw and spent oil shale, said three uniformly spaced triangular-shaped baffles in said first row including outwardly positioned triangular-shaped baffles and an intermediate triangular-shaped baffle having an apex positioned between said outwardly positioned baffles;
- a raw oil shale feed line positioned at an angle of about 30 degrees relative to said vertical axis and connected to said top of said free-fall section;
- a solid heat carrier material feed line positioned at an angle of about 30 degrees relative to said vertical axis and at an inclusive angle of about 60 degrees relative to said raw oil shale feed line and connected to said top of said free-fall section, said raw and spent shale feed lines are positioned at an angle of about 22.5 degrees relative to said apex of said intermediate baffle of said first row of said triangular-shaped baffles as viewed from the top;
- a surge bin positioned below and communicating with said deflector section for substantially completing the retorting of said mixed raw and spent oil shale;
- a combustor connected to said surge bin for combusting said retorted shale; and
- a separator connected to said bin for separating at least one fraction of shale oil from hydrocarbons liberated from said raw oil shale in said surge bin.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional patent application of the patent application of Earl D. York, Jay C. Knepper, and John M. Forgac, Ser. No. 833,191, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,560, for static mixer retorting of oil shale, filed Feb. 27, 1986, which is a continuation-in-part patent application of U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,852 of Earl D. York, Jay C. Knepper, and John M. Forgac, Ser. No. 782,204, for Static Mixer Retorting of Oil Shale, filed Sept. 30, 1985, issued July 1, 1986.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
833191 |
Feb 1986 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
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782204 |
Sep 1985 |
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