Environmental studies of materials from the H-coal liquefaction process development unit

Technical Report · Wed Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:6549809

Cada, G F

H-coal is a process for the direct liquefaction of coal to produce synthetic fuels. Its development has progressed from bench-scale testing through operation of a 2.7 Mg/d (3 ton/d) Process Development Unit. A large-scale H-Coal pilot plant is presently operating at Catlettsburg, Kentucky, and there are plans for the construction of a commercial H-Coal liquefaction facility by the end of the decade. Two of the environmental concerns of the developing direct coal liquefaction industry are accidental spills of synthetic oils and treatment/storage of solid wastes. As a means of obtaining preliminary information on the severity of these potential impacts well in advance of commercialization, samples of product oils and solid wastes were obtained from the H-Coal Process Development Unit (PDU). These samples were subjected to a battery of rapid screening tests, including chemical characterization and bioassays with a variety of aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Water-soluble fraction (WSFs) of H-Coal PDU oils had considerably higher concentrations of phenols and anilines and were commonly one to two orders of magnitude more toxic to aquatic organisms than WSFs of analogous petroleum crude oil. Whole H-Coal PDU oils were also more toxic to the cricket than petroleum-based oils, and some H-Coal samples showed evidence of teratogenicity. Leachates from H-Coal PDU solid wastes, on the other hand, had relatively low concentrations of selected elements and had essentially no acute toxicity to a variety of aquatic and terrestrial species. These studies indicate that environmental effects of product oil spills from a commercial H-Coal liquefaction plant are likely to be more severe than those of conventional petroleum spills. Product upgrading or special transportation and storage techniques may be needed to ensure environmentally sound commercialization of the H-Coal process.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 6549809
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-8466; ON: DE83005986
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010405 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Hydrogenation & Liquefaction
010900* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
016000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Health & Safety
AMINES
ANILINE
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
ARTHROPODS
BIOASSAY
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL SPILLS
COAL LIQUEFACTION
COAL LIQUIDS
DATA
DISPERSIONS
DISSOLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUIDS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
H-COAL PROCESS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
INSECTS
INVERTEBRATES
LEACHATES
LEACHING
LIQUEFACTION
LIQUID WASTES
LIQUIDS
MANAGEMENT
MIXTURES
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHENOLS
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT UNITS
PROCESSING
REFINING
RESIDUES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLID WASTES
SOLUBILITY
SOLUTIONS
STORAGE
TERATOGENESIS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TOXICITY
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER TREATMENT