Green River

FMC makes sodium bicarbonate at the Green River complex by reaction of sesquicarbonate (Na2 CO3 -NaHC03 -2H2 O) with carbon dioxide recovered from a sodium phosphate plant. This fairly recently patented process avoids the energy intensive heating step (33). 

Sodium Hydroxide. Before World War 1, nearly all sodium hydroxide [1310-93-2], NaOH, was produced by the reaction of soda ash and lime. The subsequent rapid development of electrolytic production processes, resulting from growing demand for chlorine, effectively shut down the old lime—soda plants except in Eastern Europe, the USSR, India, and China. Recent changes in chlorine consumption have reduced demand, putting pressure on the price and availabiHty of caustic soda (NaOH). Because this trend is expected to continue, there is renewed interest in the lime—soda production process. EMC operates a 50,000 t/yr caustic soda plant that uses this technology at Green River it came onstream in mid-1990. Other U.S. soda ash producers have aimounced plans to constmct similar plants (1,5). 

Estimates of oil shale deposits by continent are given in Table 1 (2). Characteristics of many of the world s best known oil shales are summarized in Table 2 (3,4). Oil shale deposits in the United States occur over a wide area (Table 3). The most extensive deposits, covering ca 647,000 km (250,000 mi ), are the Devonian-Mississippian shales of the eastern United States (5). The richest U.S. oil shales are in the Green River formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Typical mineral and organic analyses for Green River oil shale are given in Table 4. 

Green River Formation, ie, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming 636 445 191 318 223 83... 

Carbonate Decomposition. The carbonate content of Green River oil shale is high (see Table 4). In addition, the northern portion of the Piceance Creek basin contains significant quantities of the carbonate minerals nahcoUte and dawsonite. The decomposition of these minerals is endothermic and occurs at ca 600—750°C for dolomite, 600—900°C for calcite, 350—400°C for dawsonite, and 100—120°C for nahcohte. Kinetics of these reactions have been studied (19). Carbon dioxide, a product of decomposition, dilutes the off-gases produced from retorting processes at the above decomposition temperatures. 

Properties. The composition of shale oil has depended on the shale from which it was obtained as well as on the retorting method by which it was produced. Properties of shale oils from various locations are given in Table 8. A comparison of a Green River shale oil and a Michigan Antrim shale oil, retorted under similar conditions, is given in Table 9. 

Table 10. Comparison of Green River Crude Shale Oil and Median U.S. Crude ...

Utilisa tion of shale oil products for petrochemical production has been studied (47—51). The effects of prerefining on product yields for steam pyrolysis of shale oil feed and the suitabiUty of Green River shale oil as a petrochemical feedstock were investigated. Pyrolysis was carried out on the whole oil, vacuum distillate, and mildly, moderately, and severely hydrogenated vacuum distillates. 

In the mid-1980s FMC began solution mining trona beds at Green River, Wyoming to produce soda ash. NaTech is currently developing a solution mining process for sodium bicarbonate [144-55-8] in Colorado. 

Sample. Petroleum crude oil sample from Long Beach Field (TUMS Well C-331, API° 20), California, and shale oil obtained by retorting at 500°C the Green River Oil Shale (Anvil Point Mine) were studied. About 20 g of shale oil was dissolved in 200 ml of THF and then filtered. The sample was recovered by a rotary evaporator. Although the same procedure was done on the other samples, the percent ash was different for each sample. All the samples were evaporated to a constant weight in a vacuum oven at 50°C. 

A hypothetical structural model developed by Yen (24) represented the organic components of Green River oil shale. The major components were isoprenoids, steroids, terpenoids and cartenoids. The common bridges consisted of disulfide, ether, ester, heterocyclic and alkadiene. Elemental analysis of typical oil shale samples has shown... 

Razorback sucker, Xyrauchen texanus Green River, Utah Eggs ... 

Hamilton, S.J. 1995. Hazard assessment of inorganics to three endangered fish in the Green River, Utah. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 30 134-142. 

Hamilton, S.J. and B. Waddell. 1994. Selenium in eggs and milt of razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) in the middle Green River, Utah. Arch. Environ. Contamin. Toxicol. 27 195-201. 

Facilities producing sodium cyanide and their annual capacity (in millions of pounds) include Cyanco Co., Winnemucca, Nevada (28) Degussa Corporation, Theodore, Alabama (60) Du Pont Chemical Company, Memphis, Tennessee (250) and Texas City, Texas (100) and FMC Corporation, Green River, Wyoming (60) (SRI 1995). 

FMC CORP. GREEN RIVER, WY 0-99 Produce For on-site use/processing As a reactant... 

Sodium Carbonate Scrubbing (Contd.) FMC (Soda Ash Plant) Green River, WY Getty Oil Co. Bakersfield, CA FMC Environmental Equipment FMC Environmental Equipment Coal 1Z Sulfur Oil 1.1% Sulfur... 

Tenneco Oil Co. Green River, WY Vendor Not Selected Coal 1.5% Sulfur (maximum)... 

Desborough G. A. (1975). Authigenic albite and potassium feldspar in the Green River formation, Colorado and Wyoming. Amer. Mineral, 60 235-239. 

In 1864 Ernest Solvay, a Belgian chemist, invented his ammonia-soda process. A few years later the soda ash price was reduced one third. The Solvay process had completely replaced the LeBlanc method by 1915. The Solvay method is still very popular worldwide. However, in this country large deposits of natural trona ore were found in the 1940s in Green River, Wyoming. In the last few years there has been a tremendous conversion from synthetic to natural soda ash. The first and last Solvay plant in the U.S. closed in 1986 (a large Allied Chemical plant in Solvay, NY). Trona ore is found about 500 m below the surface. It is called sodium sesquicarbonate... 

Endangered fishes, three species. Green River, Utah boron tested as boric acid Bonytail, Gila elegans ... 

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