Utah Oil Shale: Science, Technology, and Policy Perspectives

Jennifer Spinti

CRC Press, Aug 5, 2016 - Science - 338 pages

Includes full-color isopach and richness maps for each organic-rich and organic-lean oil shale interval within the upper Green River Formation.

Offers computational exploration of trade-offs in drilling and heating options on the net energy return for oil produced from an in situ process.

Analyzes costs and emissions associated with in situ production of oil shale.

Discusses legal and policy issues for a nascent oil shale industry.

Contents

• Legal and Policy Considerations Involving Water for Oil Shale Development: 39
• Evaluation of the Upper Green River Formations Oil Shale Resource in the Uinta Basin Utah: 59
• Chemical and Structural Characterization of Oil Shale from the Green River Formation: 87
• Oil Shale Pyrolysis Rates and Mechanisms: 119
• CoreScale Oil Shale Pyrolysis: 157
• PoreScale Transport Processes during Oil Shale Pyrolysis: 187
• Geomechanical and Fluid Transport Properties: 209
• Modeling of Well Arrangement and Its Effect on Energy Ratio for In Situ Thermal Treatment of Oil Shale in the Uinta Basin: 241
• Economic Analysis of In Situ Oil Shale Development in the Uinta Basin: 277
• Oil Shale Development Air Quality and Carbon Management: 307
• Index: 329

About the author

Jennifer P. Spinti was the Assistant Director of the Clean and Secure Energy from Domestic Oil Shale and Oil Sands Resources program in the Institute for Clean and Secure Energy (ICSE) at The University of Utah from 2009 to 2015. As part of her duties, she organized the University of Utah Unconventional Fuels Conference, edited and published two reports on oil shale and oil sands, and developed a repository of documents, maps, and data related to these resources. She also oversaw research projects related to development of oil shale and oil sands resources in Utah’s Uinta Basin and was actively involved in two of those projects. Dr. Spinti earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Utah in 1997 studying NOx emissions from coal combustion. Since then, her research has focused on using computer simulation of combustion systems to reduce the environmental impacts of fossil fuel utilization.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Utah Oil Shale: Science, Technology, and Policy Perspectives
• Editor: Jennifer Spinti
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: CRC Press, 2016
• ISBN: 1498721745, 9781498721745
• Length: 338 pages
• Subjects: Science / Chemistry / Industrial & Technical; Technology & Engineering / Chemical & Biochemical; Technology & Engineering / Civil / Soil & Rock; Technology & Engineering / Power Resources / Fossil Fuels