Ambre Energy

Ambre Energy Limited is an Australian coal and oil shale company. It has offices in Brisbane 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. 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 (19 mi) south west of Toowoomba, Queensland. The plan includes construction of an open-pit coal mine, and carbon capture facility.^[1] 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 plastics manufacturing.

Oil-Tech process

Ambre Energy operates a small Oil-Tech-type of shale oil extraction pilot plant and 34,000 acres (140 km²) of oil shale leases, approximately 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Vernal, Utah. 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 1,000 °F (540 °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.^[2][3] 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.^[3]

References

1. ^ "Community opposition forces smaller coals to liquid project". ABC Australia. 2008-05-07. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/07/2237725.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-19. 
2. ^ (PDF) Secure Fuels from Domestic Resources: The Continuing Evolution of America's Oil Shale and Tar Sands Industries (4th ed.). United States Department of Energy. 2010. pp. 10–11. http://www.unconventionalfuels.org/publications/reports/SecureFuelsReport2010.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-06. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Appendix A: Oil Shale Development Background and Technology Overview" (PDF). Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resource Management Plan Amendments to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. Argonne National Laboratory. November 2008. pp. 54−56. http://ostseis.anl.gov/documents/fpeis/vol3/OSTS_FPEIS_vol3_App_A.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-23. 

External links

• Company website