R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
As promised, here is a primer on the oil shale technology that might help Israel become energy independent.
The technology was invented by the serendipitously named Dr. Harold Vinegar during his 32-year tenure at Royal Dutch Shell. Shell is exploring the use of the technology in Jordan, where there are also major oil shale deposits, but opted against exploration in Israel. Vinegar retired from Shell as Chief Scientist and made aliyah to Israel, where he began teaching petroleum science at Ben Gurion University. He then joined Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI), where he is now Chief Scientist. (I am meeting Dr. Vinegar soon and will give you a more detailed and personal account of this history.)
Before we get to the technology, a quick word on oil shale.
There are two general categories of oil: conventional and unconventional. Conventional oil is called crude, the stream of free-flowing hydrocarbons that are drawn out of the ground by the nodding, mantis-like pumps with which you're familiar. Unconventional oil is oil produced from less easily tapped sources and by methods other than by traditional wells.
One unconventional oil source is extra-heavy crude, which flows about as easily as cold blackstrap molasses and will sink if you pour some into a glass of water. Tar sands, or bituminous sands, contain a particularly viscous variety of heavy crude. Getting it out is labor-intensive, to say the least, and the proportion of usable fuel to be generated from a barrel of tar sands is relatively low. Still, as oil prices rise, tar sand oil production becomes more commercially viable.
Another unconventional source is oil shale, which does not, in fact, contain oil. Oil shale is sedimentary rock containing kerogen, which is premature oil. The rock is the product of organic debris that has been cooking below the surface of the earth for millions of years. When the kerogen in the rock is heated, its long chains of carbons begin to break into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually, oil -- among other products -- is released.
The oil derived from the shale through IEI's process is a light synthetic condensate that is easier to refine than conventional crude. The challenge is on the upstream end -- getting it out of the rock.
Until very recently, there were two ways of doing this. One is to mine the rock, bring it to the surface, crush it, and heat it in a furnace called a retort. The other -- still in the piloting stage of development -- is to heat the rock while it is underground to expel the oil and gas from the kerogen, and then pump the products to the surface (in situ retorting). IEI's method is a variant of the latter technique.
Surface retorting requires copious amounts of water to clean shale waste, cool the retorts, and refine the shale oil. In situ retorting does not require such large quantities of water because no shale waste is generated, no retorts need to be cooled, and the hydrogen needed to refine the oil is generated during the process itself. There is still a water cost, however, when subsurface waters are diverted from their normal flow. And both methods, up to this point, have been more expensive to implement than conventional drilling.
A particular challenge in the US -- where 70% of the world's oil shale deposits are located -- is the proximity of the aquifers to the shale. During extraction, the waters are vulnerable to contamination by the hydrocarbons and must be protected. The only way to do so is to construct a freeze wall around the extraction area to prevent contact. And a freeze wall, in addition to adding to overall expense, raises the technology's carbon footprint.
Israel is a different story. Here, where the shale deposits are uniform, thick and rich, the aquifer is well below the oil shale; they are separated from one another by about 200 meters of impermeable rock. There is therefore no need for a freeze wall. And Dr. Vinegar's technology, rather than using water to function, actually generates water: the shale contains 20% water, which is produced during the extraction process. According to Dana Kadmiel, the IEI environmental engineer I spoke with, this water can be treated and subsequently used for agriculture.
The hydrogeological conditions here thus yield multiple advantages: lower water consumption, higher energy efficiencies, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and lower costs. Dana estimates that the resource will be extractable at a cost of about $40 a barrel.
IEI's version of in situ retorting works like this:
Uniformly spaced horizontal heater wells, six inches in diameter, are drilled into the target oil shale. The wells are heated, either by electricity or by a circulating heat transfer fluid, probably molten salts (salts that can be melted at a low temperature and then brought to a very high temperature). The heater wells are maintained at high temperatures for several years, cooking the shale to about 300 degrees Celsius.
Eventually, the heat causes the kerogen to expel several high-value products: oil, water, natural gas (methane and ethane), LPG, and hydrogen. Hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas, is also produced. It will be immediately isolated and treated to make elemental sulfur for use in fertilizer.
Above ground, the gases will be separated from the liquids and the water and oil separated from one another. The water will be sent for treatment and the oil to one of Israel's two refineries for conversion into fuel.
IEI is currently in an appraisal phase and will shortly move into the pilot phase. If they are able to prove that the technology works, is economic, and is environmentally sustainable, they'll move into the commercial phase. The appraisal phase involves drilling out samples of oil shale using what amounts to an extremely long apple corer and then testing it in the lab. During the pilot phase, they will drill vertically and use electricity to heat the shale. Once they get to the commercial phase, they will drill horizontally rather than vertically and move from electricity to molten salts, which are much more efficient and environmentally friendly. Natural gas will be used to heat the salts.
Down the road, they're interested in using the sun to heat the salts, if a way can be found to make solar more efficient and economic. In the meantime, they'll be able to use the natural gas generated by the process itself for heating purposes.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Fascinating.
Mar '11
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Very interesting. Of course, it depends on the Israeli government actually backing off and letting it happen (and letting people profit from it). The instinctive socialism of the country is perhaps its biggest liability.
Feb '11
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
I am as anti-Israeli-government-Bolshevik-Socialism as anyone else, but I am not worried that this will be an issue here. The people, represented by the government, are entitled to royalties, but I don't expect them to be greedy.
And well done, Judith.
Edited on Jul 13, 2011 at 12:16pmRe: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Thank you, Israel.
May '10
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
The thought of Israeli petro-dollars fills me with such wicked glee that there must be a Yiddish term for it. Imma put on some Klesmer and dance around for a minute.
OK, I'm back. And think I found the term. Game changer.
Mar '11
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Yes, very interesting - thanks! I hope Israel doesn't have an EPA, who would ban any further development of this technology - it has that well-known pollutant, carbon, in it (let's gloss over the fact that we are carbon-based life forms).
Edited on Jul 13, 2011 at 1:33pmMar '11
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
The reason why I think it is a threat is because of the Israeli Government's post facto tax hike on the offshore natural gas reserves. Investors took the risk - nobody else did. They did so because the government promised a set of ryalty charges. For the government to come along later and change the rules is theft, pure and simple. At a minimum, it is an request for bribery. I am quite sure the gas field development will be hindered as a result.
Dec '10
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Oh, I'm sure there are people at EPA would would be quite happy to regulate (or eliminate) the creation of new humans and maybe some of the less desirable that already exist as well.
Mar '11
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Judith, is there any kind of debate going on over the regional implications of a huge energy discovery in Israel?
Something tells me that some of Israel's less friendly neighbors (well, all it's neighbors) won't be too thrilled at Israeli competition in their [oil] field. It could give new meaning to the phrase "war for oil."
Of course, this would resolve the Palestinian question very quickly -- they would suddenly cease to be acknowledged as a separate people, along with their right of return.
And David, words that spring to mind are kvell and plotz.
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
We have a Ministry of the Environment, which will be monitoring IEI's activities closely. Hostility toward the project is coming more from local environmentalists. More on that soon.
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
What you say is logical, but I want to make sure we've got all the facts straight. I'll be looking more closely at the details of the tax/royalty hike (does it apply retroactively? was it artificially low in the first place? are the terms still attractive on relative terms? do they compensate sufficiently for the security issue? etc.) to try to figure out the reality of the implications for both natural gas exploration and other resource explorations.
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Hezbollah shows signs of contemplating a war for natural gas, and Syria just announced a tender for international investment in oil shale exploration to compensate for its depleting crude reserves.
The Israeli discoveries have the potential to completely upend the geopolitics of the region. You're absolutely right: there are abundant security implications.
Jun '10
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Great job explaining the technology involved, Judith.
Mar '11
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Judith Levy
I'll be looking more closely at the details of the tax/royalty hike (does it apply retroactively? was it artificially low in the first place? are the terms still attractive on relative terms? do they compensate sufficiently for the security issue? etc.) · Jul 13 at 11:18p
When the investors put their money in, the rate was 12.5%.
And now? "state royalties be increased from the current rate of 33 per cent to a figure that would waver between 52 per cent and 62 per cent."
In short: retroactive theft, feeding the socialist machine.
Dec '10
Re: R&D Corner: Israeli Oil Shale Technology
Now, thanks to you, Judith, I can be the smartest guy on the block when this topic comes up among friends.
Thanks for the fascinating overview. I've been looking for just such an easy-to-understand description of the shale extraction process, what it entails, and how and why Israel's shale is different from some of the others', but couldn't find it.
Until now!
Looking forward to future reports.