Ikelic - Alliance Digital Repository

OIL SHALE
200
g 150
v
a
i
a 100
10
2
1 50
SOURCE: EM
FIGURE 1
SOLID WASTE FLOW PROJECTIONS
17.0
29.9
44.1
1986 1991 1996
V77A Landfilllng j Materials Recovery evwn Combustion
water and placed in a landfill, where the mixture
would form a concrete mass that would seal in
environmentally
hazardous chemicals.
Coburning the oil shale with the MSW would ac
complish two purposes. The calciferous com
ponents of the fired oil shale would absorb and
react with any sulfur oxides and other acid gases
formed during combustion, removing or greatly
reducing
the requirement for expensive pollution
control equipment. Also, shale reserves that can
not now be economically used could be used to
generate electricity. (The oil shales must have
adequate calciferous content to satisfactorily ab
sorb and react with the sulfur oxide compounds
and other acid gases, thereby removing them
from the flue gas stream. Some Eastern shales
2-6
may not have the necessary properties.
However, other oil shales such as the New
Brunswick shales do have the needed
constituents.)
Operational Benefits
The inventors say their process would make it
possible to economically use much of the West-
em oil shale reserves. Conservative estimates
indicate that utilizing oil shale reserves can save
about 12 to 16 million barrels of crude oil equiv
alent per year. No incremental energy savings
can be attributed to the MSW that is burned be
cause it can be burned by conventional technol
if environmental regulations do not prohibit
ogy
such practice.
THE SYNTHETIC FUELS REPORT, JANUARY 1995