Cold Flow Study of a Segregated Zoning Burner

There are large deposits of oil shale and inaccessible coal in the US and around the world. Shale oil extraction is usually performed by ex-situ processing by mining the oil shale and treating it in processing facilities. New in-situ technologies can benefit from using gas-fired burners for supplying heat locally to facilitate extraction of the oil via oil walls. The purpose of this work is to develop a system for in-situ heating of oil shale and other kerogen-rich deposits. A new flameless segregated-zone burner has been proposed and is being evaluated by looking at mixing of fuel and oxidant over extended distances. A combination of engineering calculations and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations are being used to evaluate the efficacy of different design options. A set of cold-flow mixing experiments are also being used to validate the design calculations. The results of these design efforts will be presented, along with an assessment of technical, economical and operational concerns for the proposed burner.