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Liquefaction of bituminous coals using disposable ore catalysts and hydrogen. Final report, February 7, 1982-July 31, 1982

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6754128

There are a number of problems associated with the production of liquid fuels from coal. The most complex is the use of commercial catalysts which are expensive, with short life, and cannot be recovered or regenerated. The objective of this study was to conduct experiments on coal hydrogenation using low cost mineral ores as disposable catalysts. Coal samples from Blacksville Mine, Pittsburgh Bed were hydrogenated using a number of ores, ore concentrates and industrial waste products as catalysts. Experiments were also conducted using a commercial catalyst (Harshaw Chemicals, 0402T) and no catalyst at all to compare the results. Since iron pyrite has been reported to be a good disposable catalyst, experiments were also conducted using pyrite individually as well as in admixture with other ores or concentrates. The liquefaction was conducted at 425/sup 0/C under 2000 psig (13,790 kPa) hydrogen pressure for a reaction time of 30 minutes using SRC-II heavy distillate as a vehicle oil. The conclusions of this study are as follows: (a) Results of liquefaction using two cycle technique showed that the catalytic activity of iron pyrite could be enhanced by adding materials like limonite, laterite or red mud. Iron pyrite in admixture with limonite ore or molybdenum oxide concentrate gave the best results among all the binary mixtures studied. (b) Iron pyrite with molybdenum oxide concentrate and cobaltic hydroxide cake (metal loading in each case the same as in Harshaw catalyst) gave results which compared favorably with those obtained using the Harshaw catalyst. It is recommended that work on this project should be continued exploring other ores and their mixtures for their catalytic activity for coal liquefaction.

Research Organization:
New Hampshire Univ., Durham (USA). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
DOE Contract Number:
AC22-81PC41035
OSTI ID:
6754128
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/41035-4; ON: DE83000581
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English