| Description |
The Clean and Secure Energy from Domestic Oil Shale and Oil Sands Resources program, part of the research agenda of the Institute for Clean and Secure Energy (ICSE) at the University of Utah, is focused on engineering, scientific, and legal research surrounding the development of these resources in Utah. Efforts under Task 2, which focuses on technology transfer and outreach, included planning for two public events, the Energy Forum (held on April 2, 2013) and the University of Utah Unconventional Fuels Conference (held on May 7, 2013). Additionally, it is likely that the External Advisory Board (EAB) will be disbanded due to the impending end of federal funding for projects currently overseen by the EAB. Task 3, "Clean oil shale and oil sands utilization with CO2 management," has been focused on the development of a model for predicting oil and gas development in the Uinta Basin that can be used as an analog for predicting unconventional fuel development. The Subtask 3.1 team summarized available estimates of methane emissions associated with natural gas extraction, processing and distribution. Subtasks 3.3 and 3.4 worked jointly on a Matlab-based model that predicts oil and gas development in the Uinta Basin based on the projected profitability of a well drilled in a given year. Task 4 projects, "Liquid fuel production by in-situ thermal processing of oil shale/sands," range from the molecular to the basin scale. At the molecular scale, Subtask 4.9 researchers continued the preparation a final publication on the details of kerogen and bitumen isolation and characterization from the three segments of the Skyline 16 core. At the core scale, Subtask 4.2 researchers hired a new student to compare oil shale pyrolysis data (oil, gas, and coke) from small core samples with modeling results from the commercial simulator STARS and from a simulator developed using the COMSOL platform. The Subtask 4.3 team hired a new student to perform kinetic modeling comparisons between Dr. Milind Deo's group at the University of Utah and Dr. Thomas Fletcher's group at BYU. Subtask 4.7 researchers brought the loading frame for the triaxial compression tests into service and performed the first test, a uniaxial test at 200°C with no confining pressure. At the production scale, the Subtask 4.1 team created generalized, rubblized oil shale bed geometries with three different positions of a heating pipe that are surrounded by solid oil shale. At the basin scale, the Subtask 4.8 team constructed and drafted detailed cross sections (both N-S and E-W) of the Green River Formation across the Uinta Basin. The remaining subtask under Task 5, Subtask 5.3, involves an analysis of policy and economic issues associated with using simulation to assess environmental impacts. Efforts focused on augmenting the research presented in the January 2013 white paper describing existing judicial and agency approaches for estimating error in simulation methodologies used in context of environmental risk assessment and impacts analysis. The Market Assessment, which comprises Subtasks 3.1, 6.1, and 6.3 is in the layout phase and will be released in electronic form in May 2013. A report summarizing the Canadian oil sands experience, a deliverable for Subtask 6.2, will also be released in May 2013. Task 7 continues to follow a trajectory that is closely aligned with its industrial partner, American Shale Oil (AMSO). Subtask 7.1 researchers furthered work on segmented linearization and development of constitutive modeling surfaces on AMSO data, focusing specifically radial strain information. The Subtask 7.3 project team incorporated more complicated models for the oil shale properties - thermal conductivity, specific heat, and density - into their simulations of the AMSO heater test in order to more closely resemble the geologic oil shale layering present at the AMSO site near Rifle, CO. |
