Ikelic - Alliance Digital Repository

STATUS OF OIL SHALE PROJECTS (Underline denotes changes since June 1994)
R&D PROJECTS (Continued)
NEW PARAHO ASPHALT FROM SHALE OIL PROJECT-New Paraho Corporation (S-310)
New Paraho Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Resources Technology Land, Inc. New Paraho Corporation plans
to develop a commercial process for making shale-oil-modified road asphalt. Researchers at Western Research Institute (WRJ)
and elsewhere have discovered that certain types of chemical compounds present in shale oil cause a significant reduction in mois
ture damage and a potential reduction in binder embrittlement when added to asphalt. This is particularly true for shale oil
produced by direct-heated retorting processes, such as Paraho's.
In order to develop this potential market for shale oil modified asphalts, New Paraho has created an initial plan which is to result in
(1) proven market performance of shale oil modified asphalt under actual climatic and road use conditions and completion of a
(2)
comprehensive commercial feasibility study and business plan as the basis for subsequent
securing financing for a Colorado-based
commercial production facility.
The cost of carrying out the initial market development phase of the commercial development plan was approximately $25 million,
all of which was funded by Paraho. The major portion of the work conducted during this initial phase consisted of producing suffi
cient quantities of shale oil to accommodate the construction and evaluation of several test strips of shale oil-modified asphalt
pavement. Mining of 3,900 tons of shale for these strips occurred in September 1987. The shale oil was produced in Paraho's pilot
plant facilities, located near Rifle, Colorado in August, 1988. The retort was operated at mass velocities of 418 to 538 pounds per
hour per square foot on 23 to 35 gallon per ton shale and achieved an average oil yield of 96.5 percent of Fischer Assay. In 1988,
New Paraho installed a vacuum still at the pilot plant site to produce shale oil asphalt from crude shale oil.
Eight test strips were constructed in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The test strips are being evaluated over a period of five years.
during which time Paraho will complete site selection, engineering and cost estimates, and financing plans for a commercial produc
tion facility. Test strips were also completed on 1-20 east of Pecos, Texas, in Michigan for a test section of 1-75 near Flint, and US-
59, northeast of Houston, Texas, and US-287 in Jackson Hole. Wyoming.
Paraho has proposed a $J>4 million commercial scale plant capable of producing 555 barrels of crude oil per day, of which
440 barrels would be shale oil modifier (SOM) and 110 barrels would be light oil to be marketed to refineries.
An economic analysis has determined that SOM could be marketed at a price of $140 per barrel if tests show that SOMAT can af
fect at least a 10 percent improvement in pavement life. A feasibility study suggests that Paraho can expect a 25 percent rate of
return on SOMAT production.
Approximately 1500 acres of the Mahogany Block, controlled by the Tell Ertl Family Trust, are available to New Paraho. New
Paraho also maintains control of approximately 11,000 acres of oil shale leases on state lands in Utah. In addition. Paraho is
evaluating other sites where the facility may be located.
In December 1992 New Paraho announced that its pilot plant in Rifle, Colorado was currently producing 15 barrels of shale oil
daily as part of a new SOMAT test marketing program started in September. This program has been completed and the product
has been successfully marketed.
The first phase of the new test market program for SOMAT is expected to cost $3.0 million through 1994. and produce enough
SOMAT for 50 to 60 miles of asphalt roads and employ 15 people.
The test strip results have been encouraging and SOMAT is proving to be a superior road paving material, with distinct life-cycle
cost advantages.
The oil shale asphalt, as a 10 percent additive to conventional asphalt, is far more resistant to water damage and aging than conven
tional asphalt. It adds about 10 to 15 percent to the cost of asphalt, but is a bargain compared to other asphalt modifiers that ac
complish the same tasks and increase costs by 30 to 35 percent.
New Paraho has proposed a 7-month, $500,000 commercial evaluation program to assess the economic benefits of coprocessing
used tires with oil shale. Initial experiments have demonstrated that retort operations can be sustained with used tires as 5 percent
of the feedstock.
Research Project Cost: $7.0 million
Estimated Commercial Project Capital Cost: $54.0 million
- SHALE OIL VALUE ENHANCEMENT VENTURE J.W.
Bunger & Associates. Inc. (JWBA1 (S-325^
Shale oil produced from Western U.S. Green River Formation contains high concentrations of potentially valuable products-
particularly nitrogen compounds-pyridines. pyrroles, and their benzologs which possess market values of $800 per barrel or more.
JWBA estimates that 10 percent of the raw shale oil could be manufactured into products commanding these values and is planning
a venture to examine commercial production of these value-added products.
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SYNTHETIC FUELS REPORT, JANUARY 1995