An in situ process for treating an oil containing formation is provided. The process may include providing heat from one or more heaters to at least a portion of the formation. The heat may be allowed to transfer from the one or more heaters to a part of the formation such that heat from the one or more heat sources pyrolyzes at least some hydrocarbons within the part. Hydrocarbons may be produced from the formation.

In situ thermal processing of an oil reservoir formation

Review of spray cooling – Part 1: Single-phase and nucleate boiling regimes, and critical heat flux

In an embodiment, a method of treating a kerogen and liquid hydrocarbon containing formation in situ may include providing heat from one or more heat sources to at least a portion of the formation. Heat may be allowed to transfer from the one or more heat sources to a part of the formation. In some embodiments, at least a portion of liquid hydrocarbons in the part may be mobilized. At least a portion of kerogen in the part may be pyrolyzed. In certain embodiments, a pressure within at least a part of the formation may be controlled. The pressure may be controlled to be at least about 2.0 bars absolute. A mixture may be produced from the formation.

In situ recovery from a kerogen and liquid hydrocarbon containing formation

A process may include providing heat from one or more heaters to at least a portion of a subsurface formation. Heat may transfer from one or more heaters to a part of a formation. In some embodiments, heat from the one or more heat sources may pyrolyze at least some hydrocarbons in a part of a subsurface formation. Hydrocarbons and/or other products may be produced from a subsurface formation. Certain embodiments describe apparatus, methods, and/or processes used in treating a subsurface or hydrocarbon containing formation.

Thermal processes for subsurface formations

A oil shale formation may be treated using an in situ thermal process. A mixture of hydrocarbons, H 2 , and/or other formation fluids may be produced from the formation. Heat may be applied to the formation to raise a temperature of a portion of the formation to a pyrolysis temperature. Heat sources may be used to heat the formation. The heat sources may be positioned within the formation in a selected pattern.

In situ thermal processing of an oil shale formation using a pattern of heat sources

A method for the electro-thermal and electrochemical underground conversion of coal into oil and by-products comprises the steps of inserting an underground probe into a bore hole until the probe is in close proximity to a coal seam. A mixture of air, steam, an electrolyte and a suitable catalyst is supplied to the probe, and the mixture is then sprayed directly on the coal seam through a passage in a nozzle. The probe is also energized with electricity applied to the nozzle to produce an arc between the coal and the probe, simultaneous with the spraying of the mixture on the coal seam. Heat of the combustion from the arc and the steam combine to produce a pyrolysis, oxidation, and reduction of the coal, thereby converting the coal into a gaseous combination of oil and by-products. The arc can be rotated to increase the tunnel diameter. An apparatus for performing the method is also provided.

/pdf/method-and-apparatus-for-conversion-of-coal-in-situ-plgqu2n4hf.pdf

Method and apparatus for conversion of coal in situ

Operation of power electronics at liquid nitrogen (LN2) temperature is a very attractive possibility. However, a high heat flux (over 100 W/cm) cooling technique like spray cooling will have to be used to realize all the advantages of low-temperature operation. This study provides empirical correlations for LN2 spray cooling. A general semiempirical correlation (based on macrolayer dryout model) for spray cooling critical heat flux (CHF) is obtained. This correlation is shown to be very accurate for predicting spray cooling CHF for different liquids and spray conditions. An empirical correlation for heat flux is also presented. This study also shows the importance of surface roughness for spray cooling with liquid nitrogen. The rougher surfaces were shown to have significantly higher heat transfer rates and similar CHFs occurring at lower temperatures.

Effect of spray characteristics on spray cooling with liquid nitrogen

The operation of power electronics at liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT) is a very attractive possibility. However, a high heat flux (over 1.0 x 10 6 W/m2) cooling technique, like spray cooling, will have to be used to realize all the advantages of low-temperature operation. This study details the results from experiments conducted to study the heat transfer characteristics during spray cooling with liquid nitrogen. Four different nozzles at various pressures were used to study the variation in spray cooling heat transfer at LNT. The effect of nozzle and flow rate on the critical heat flux and overall heat transfer characteristics are presented. Heat fluxes close to 1.7 x 10 6 W/m2 were realized at temperatures below 100 K. The mass flow rate range was from 6.1 x 10 4 kg/h m2 to 3.2 x 10 s kg/h m2. Nomenclature q" = heat flux, W/m2 rsat = saturation temperature, K Tw = surface temperature, K

Spray cooling of power electronics at cryogenic temperatures

The heat transfer from an array of discrete sources is expected to differ from the behavior of a single heat source due to the interaction between the flow induced by individual heat sources. This study details the results from experiments conducted to study the pool boiling heat transfer characteristics from a vertical heater array with flush-mounted heat sources. The lower heaters were found to enhance the heat transfer from upper heaters. The bubble pumped convection due to the lower heaters enhanced the preboiling heat transfer coefficient at the upper heater by as much as 700%. The critical heat flux from the upper heaters was also enhanced up to 15%. Correlations are presented for both these effects. 21 refs.

Ottfried J. Hahn

Papers

Method and apparatus for conversion of coal in situ

Effect of spray characteristics on spray cooling with liquid nitrogen

Spray cooling of power electronics at cryogenic temperatures

Spray cooling of power electronics at cryogenic temperatures

Pool boiling heat transfer from vertical heater array in liquid nitrogen