KENTORT II is an above-ground shale oil extraction process developed by the Center for Applied Energy Research of the University of Kentucky.
[3] The KENTORT II retort consists of four fluidized bed vessels, configured in cascade.
The raw oil shale is fed to the pyrolysis vessel the pyrolysis section, where it is fluidized by a mixture of steam and product oil shale gas from the gasification section below.
[3][4] The pyrolyzed oil shale moves by gravity downward to the gasification section.
The spent shale moves to the combustion section where it is burnt to heat the process, while oil shale ash moves to the cooling section before its removal from the retort.