System comprising the gasification of fossil fuels to process unconventional oil sources

Abstract

A facility comprising integrated systems for the extraction, and optionally upgrading and/or refinement, of unconventional oil sources, using fossil fuels as a primary source of energy. In particular, this facility provides a means to gasify one or more fossil fuels in an efficient manner, converting it into intermediate products such as heat, steam and electricity, which are then used by the system to obtain useful fuel products from unconventional oil sources such as tar sands and oil shale. The design of the components of this facility is optimized such that the overall costs are competitive with an equivalent unconventional oil source processing facility that uses natural gas as a source of processing energy. The facility can be used on its own, may use supplemental natural gas energy sources, or may be used in conjunction with an existing facility that uses natural gas as an energy source in order to improve the overall cost effectiveness of the processing and/or reduce the requirement for other energy sources, such as natural gas.

1 . An integrated facility for the extraction of useful fuel products from an unconventional oil source, said facility using fossil fuels as a primary source of energy and comprising:
 f. a Gasification System for converting a feedstock comprising a fossil fuel into slag, an off-gas, heat and steam;   
       g. a gas reformulation system operatively associated with said Gasification
 System for converting the off-gas to a reformulated gas and heat, said reformulated gas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide; 
 h. a Control System operatively associated with said Gasification System and said reformulation system for monitoring and regulating said systems to ensure efficient conversion of said feedstock; 
 i. one or more Gas Conversion Systems operatively associated with said gas reformulation system that use the reformulated gas to produce electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, and 
 j. an Extraction System operatively associated with at least one or said Gas Conversion Systems for extracting crude fuel products from the unconventional oil source using the electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, produced in the one or more Gas Conversion Systems. 
 
     
     
         2 . The facility according to  claim 1 , further comprising an upgrading system operatively associated with at least one or said Gas Conversion Systems for upgrading the crude fuel products to upgraded fuel products using the electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, produced in the one or more Gas Conversion Systems. 
     
     
         3 . The facility according to  claim 2 , further comprising a refining system operatively associated with at least one or said Gas Conversion Systems for refining the upgraded fuel products to purified or partially purified fuel products using the electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, produced in the one or more Gas Conversion Systems. 
     
     
         4 . The facility according to any one of  claims 1 ,  2  or  3 , wherein the unconventional oil source is tar sands, oil shales or an extra heavy oil deposit. 
     
     
         5 . A process for producing useful fuel products from an unconventional oil source, said process comprising the steps of:
 a. gasifying a feedstock comprising a fossil fuel to produce slag, an off-gas, heat and steam;   b. reformulating the off-gas to provide a reformulated gas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide;   c. providing the reformulated gas to a Gas Conversion Systems to produce electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, and   d. providing the electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, to an Extraction System for extracting crude fuel products from the unconventional oil source.   
     
     
         6 . The process according to  claim 5 , further comprising the step of providing the electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, to an upgrading system for upgrading said crude fuel products to upgraded fuel products. 
     
     
         7 . The process according to  claim 6 , further comprising the step of providing the electricity, steam, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, or light oils, or a combination thereof, to an refining system for refining said upgraded fuel products to purified or partially purified fuel products.