RESPONSE OF OIL-SHALE TO FRAGMENTATION BY CYLINDRICAL CHARGES

This paper describes an experimental program that was conducted in 198 1 through 1983 in the Anvil Points Oil Shale Mine near Rifle, Colorado . The objective was to examine the response of the kerogen rich oil sh ale to explosive charges in relatively large scale tests. Due to an al leged shortage of oil at that time the price per barrel of crude oil h ad reached nearly $40 and the United States was looking at oil shale a s a possible source of hydrocarbon fuels. It was the intention of the fragmentation program to develop a modified in situ retort to recover the oil from the fragmented shale. Programs were already underway wher ein the oil shale was being mined, transported to the surface, and ret orted to remove the oil. This surface retorting resulted in a tremendo us amount of spent shale (shale with the kerogen removed) which had to be handled and it was felt that this would lead to serious environmen tal problems. The scheme being investigated in the program at Anvil Po ints was one in which about 25% of the shale is mined, moved to the su rface, and retorted. The remaining 75% of the shale was to be fragment ed in place and an underground retort formed so that the oil could be removed without the necessity of transporting the shale to the surface . A successful method was not developed but the results of the program did provide information on the response of shale to both single hole and multiple hole explosive charges.