As the Uintah Basin fluxes with a boom or bust economy innovation is needed to stabilize the economy in those bust states. Recently the Vernal Chamber of Commerce held their weekly luncheon at the facility of a local company looking to create such innovation. The company is Dragon Shale, LLC. Currently in the oil production process, kerogen oil, which is rich in certain chemicals valued in petrochemical and related industries, is destroyed in the process of making fuels. Dragon Shale wants to extract kerogen oil and then separate the chemicals. The company was awarded a grant from USTAR (the Utah Science Technology And Research initiative) which has led to their first milestone being successfully completed, the production of Kerogen Oil. “ The operating performance of the prototype device validates this plan,” states the Dragon Shale press release. The company sees that this technology “will enable construction of small, modular, environmentally friendly commercial plants. These smaller plants with their minimal process water requirements can be sited where the oil shale richness, infrastructure constraints and environmental sensitivities align.” The next milestones include furthering capabilities of the prototype to provide samples for manufacturers to analyze and financing to build a pilot plant. .
