Description

The retort oven enables the determination of liquid saturations in cores containing water and/or liquid hydrocarbons. The system comprises a retort cabinet containing two chambers each containing 5 sample canisters capable of accommodating up to 100 grams of crushed core material. Each canister is hermetically sealed with a threaded cap at the top and a narrow opening on the bottom that communicates with a condensing tube and a graduated burette. The tube passes through a water bath thereby accelerating vapor condensation. After condensation, the condensates accumulate in a graduated glass tube. In order to reduce the duration of the experiment, the specimen must first be pulverized prior to its insertion into the canister. The apparatus makes use of the difference in vaporization temperature of the two liquids. The samples are first heated below oil-vaporization temperature so that only water is removed. Once this has been established, the temperature is augmented to 650°C (1,200 F) until complete hydrocarbon extraction.