Recovery of oil from Utah's tar sands

This report covers the work accomplished at the University of Utah on Utah's tar sands during the period: October 1, 1979 to March 31, 1983. The work reported is a continuation of the program carried out over a period of years at the University. The primary effort of the work covered in this report has involved expanding the four major areas of the previous work (see Final Report for Contract #ET77-S-03-1762): Section A: Hot Water Recovery of Bitumens. Section B: Thermal Recovery of Bitumens in a Fluidized Bed. Section C: Upgrading and Utilization of Bitumens. Section D: Energy Recovery in a Thermal System Utilizing Heat Pipes. In the previous report it was reported that work has progressed to an extent that prospects looked good for the design, construction and operation of a pilot plant to prove out the University of Utah water extraction technology. A pilot plant, funded by the State of Utah and Enercor, a private company was designed, built and operated on Utah's tar sands. After some difficulties arising largely from feed stock selection, the plant ran well on Asphalt Ridge and White Rocks tar sands. Operation was discontinued when funding became difficult as a result of world oil easement and interest in synthetic fuels waned. However, research was continued during this time and substantial advances have been made in each of the major areas and these are described in the following pages of the report.