Lurgi process
| Process type | Chemical |
|---|---|
| Industrial sector(s) |
Chemical industry oil industry |
| Feedstock |
oil shale coal |
| Product(s) |
shale oil synthetic fuel |
| Developer(s) |
Lurgi Gesellschaft für Wärmetechnik G.m.b.H. Ruhrgas AG |
The Lurgi–Ruhrgas process is an above-ground coal liquefaction and shale oil extraction technology. It is classified as a hot recycled solids technology.
The Lurgi–Ruhrgas process was originally invented in the 1940s and further developed in the 1950s for a low-temperature liquefaction of lignite (brown coal). The technology is named after its developers Lurgi Gesellschaft für Wärmetechnik G.m.b.H. and Ruhrgas AG. Over a time, the process was used for coal processing in Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Argentina, and former Yugoslavia. The plant in Japan processed also cracking petroleum oils to olefins.
In 1947–1949, the Lurgi–Ruhrgas process was used in Germany for shale oil production. In Lukavac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, two retorts for liquefaction of lignite were in operation from 1963 to 1968. The capacity of the plant was 850 tons of lignite per day. The plant in Lincolnshire, the United Kingdom, operated in 1978–1979 with capacity of 900 tons of coal per day. In late 1960s and early 1970s oil shales from different European countries and from the Green River Formation of Colorado, the United States, were tested at the Lurgi's pilot plant in Frankfurt. In the United States, the technology was promoted in cooperation with Dravo Corporation. In the 1970s, the technology was licensed to the Rio Blanco Shale Oil Project for construction of a modular retort in combination with the modified in situ process. However, this plan was terminated.
In 1980, the Natural Resources Authority of Jordan commissioned from the Klöckner-Lurgi consortium a pre-feasibility study of construction of an oil shale retorting complex in Jordan using the Lurgi–Ruhrgas process. However, although the study found the technology feasible, it was never implemented.
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