Ambre Energy
Encyclopedia
Ambre Energy Limited is an Australian coal
and oil shale
company. It has offices in Brisbane
and Salt Lake City.
In April 2006, Ambre Energy started negotiations with American oil shale technology company Oil-Tech, Inc., incorporated in February 2000 in Utah
. Oil-Tech, Inc. was a developer of the Oil-Tech staged electrically heated retort process for the oil shale pyrolysis. In October 2006, Ambre Energy and Oil-Tech established Millennium Synfuels, LLC, which take over property rights of the retorting technology. By 30 June 2007 Ambre Energy acquired 6% of Oil Tech and 17 October 2007 it acquired 35%. Further Oil Tech become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ambre Energy and as of 21 July 2008 was merged into Ambre Energy.
. The plan includes construction of an open-pit coal mine
, and carbon capture facility. At the final stage, the plant is expected to produce enough gas for production of 2.8 million tonnes per year of dimethyl ether
and generate 650 MW of electricity. It is also expected to produce by-products for fertilizer production, and olefins
and plastic
s manufacturing.
. In Oil-Tech process, crushed oil shale is lifted by a conveyor system to the vertical retort, and is loaded into the retort from the top. The retort consists of a series of connected individual heating chambers, stacked atop each other. Heating rods extend into the centers of each of these chambers. The feed oil shale is heated to increasingly higher temperatures as it moves down the retort, attaining a temperature of 1000 °F (537.8 °C) in the lowest chamber. The gases and vapors are vacuumed into a condensing unit. The spent shale is used for pre-heating feed oil shale. The advantages of this technology are its modular design, which enhances its portability and adaptability, its low water requirements, its heating efficiency, and the relatively high quality of the resulting product.
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and oil shale
Oil shale
Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...
company. It has offices in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Salt Lake City.
History
Ambre Energy was founded in June 2005 by Edek Choros, a geologist and mining engineer. In September 2005, Ambre Energy filed a patent for the Hybrid Energy System, a method for processing low value coal and other carbonaceous materials.In April 2006, Ambre Energy started negotiations with American oil shale technology company Oil-Tech, Inc., incorporated in February 2000 in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. Oil-Tech, Inc. was a developer of the Oil-Tech staged electrically heated retort process for the oil shale pyrolysis. In October 2006, Ambre Energy and Oil-Tech established Millennium Synfuels, LLC, which take over property rights of the retorting technology. By 30 June 2007 Ambre Energy acquired 6% of Oil Tech and 17 October 2007 it acquired 35%. Further Oil Tech become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ambre Energy and as of 21 July 2008 was merged into Ambre Energy.
Felton Clean Coal Project
Ambre Energy is planning to build and operate a clean coal gasification plant at Felton Valley, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) south west of Toowoomba, QueenslandToowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba is a city in Southern Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an estimated district population of 128,600, Toowoomba is Australia's second largest inland city and its largest non-capital inland city...
. The plan includes construction of an open-pit coal mine
Open-pit mining
Open-pit mining or opencast mining refers to a method of extracting rock or minerals from the earth by their removal from an open pit or borrow....
, and carbon capture facility. At the final stage, the plant is expected to produce enough gas for production of 2.8 million tonnes per year of dimethyl ether
Dimethyl ether
Dimethyl ether , also known as methoxymethane, is the organic compound with the formula . The simplest ether, it is a colourless gas that is a useful precursor to other organic compounds and an aerosol propellant. When combusted, DME produces minimal soot and CO, though HC and NOx formation is...
and generate 650 MW of electricity. It is also expected to produce by-products for fertilizer production, and olefins
Alkene
In organic chemistry, an alkene, olefin, or olefine is an unsaturated chemical compound containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond...
and plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
s manufacturing.
Oil-Tech process
Ambre Energy operates a small Oil-Tech-type of shale oil extraction pilot plant and 34000 acres (137.6 km²) of oil shale leases, approximately 40 miles (64.4 km) southeast of Vernal, UtahVernal, Utah
Vernal, Uintah County's largest city, is located in eastern Utah near the Colorado State Line, and 175 miles east of Salt Lake City. It is bordered on the north by the Uinta Mountains, one of the few mountains ranges in the world which lie in an east-west rather than the usual north to south...
. In Oil-Tech process, crushed oil shale is lifted by a conveyor system to the vertical retort, and is loaded into the retort from the top. The retort consists of a series of connected individual heating chambers, stacked atop each other. Heating rods extend into the centers of each of these chambers. The feed oil shale is heated to increasingly higher temperatures as it moves down the retort, attaining a temperature of 1000 °F (537.8 °C) in the lowest chamber. The gases and vapors are vacuumed into a condensing unit. The spent shale is used for pre-heating feed oil shale. The advantages of this technology are its modular design, which enhances its portability and adaptability, its low water requirements, its heating efficiency, and the relatively high quality of the resulting product.