New technology concept for two-stage liquefaction of coal

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:5401511

Comolli, A G; Ganguli, P; Harris, E; MacArthur, J B; McLean, J B; Smith, T O

Hydrocarbon Research, Inc. (HRI) has completed the first year of a two-year study for the evaluation of a ''New Technology Concept for Two-Stage Liquefaction of Coal''. A two-stage liquefaction process concept has been developed and demonstrated which features two closely coupled, catalytic ebullated-bed reaction stages, with the first stage operated at low temperature to achieve efficient hydrogenation. This report covers the first year's program which was devoted to the study of Illinois No. 6 bituminous coal. Experimental investigations included nine runs in a continuous bench unit covering 176 days of on-stream operation, and over 700 supporting batch microautoclave tests. A wide range of process variables, including temperature, residence time, pressure, and recycle composition, were evaluated. Several different catalysts were also tested. Product characterization studies by other DOE contractors, which support the conclusions presented by HRI, are also appended. Process development studies culminated in a 25-day bench-scale demonstration run, at conditions selected based on the results of previous process variable runs. This run achieved C/sub 4/-975/sup 0/F distillate yields of 65 W % (or 4.2 barrels per ton) of moisture, ash free coal. Lower yields of gas and residuum, as well as improved product qualities relative to previous single stage and alternative configuration two-stage studies, were also demonstrated. Liquid products were considerably more aliphatic or petroleum-like than those produced from other two-stage processes. The efficient hydrogenation conditions of the first stage, where coal is substantially liquefied simultaneously with catalytic hydrogenation of recycle and product oils, make this a unique process concept and are considered the key to the outstanding results obtained. 39 figs., 90 tabs.

• Research Organization: Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., Lawrenceville, NJ (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC22-83PC60017
• OSTI ID: 5401511
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/60017-T1; ON: DE85016804
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010405* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Hydrogenation & Liquefaction
AGING
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BITUMINOUS COAL
BLACK COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CATALYSTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL
COAL LIQUEFACTION
COAL LIQUIDS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROGENATION
INFORMATION
LIQUEFACTION
LIQUIDS
MATERIALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
RECYCLING
RESIDUES
SOLVENTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TSL PROCESS
YIELDS