Treating carbonaceous material

Patent · Tue Oct 24 04:00:00 EDT 1978

OSTI ID:6795558

Stambaugh, E P

A method of treating a solid carbonaceous material comprising essentially lignite or bituminous or subbituminous coal to provide therefrom finely dispersed solid particles substantially free of ash and sulfur, by mixing the solid material with a liquid aqueous alkaline solution comprising essentially a sodium, potassium, or ammonium hydroxide, hydrosulfide, or carbonate, or a plurality thereof; dissolving the material by heating the resulting mixture to a temperature in the range of about 125/sup 0/C to the critical temperature, at a pressure of at least about 25 psig, while maintaining a substantial portion of the mixture in the liquid state; separating from the resulting solution any undissolved coal, ash, and other solids; reducing the pH of the solution to less than about 9 to precipitate therefrom a powder comprising the carbonaceous material, with a substantial proportion of the ash and sulfur that had been in the starting material now remaining in solution; and separating the precipitated powder from the solution. Typically either the pH of the solution is gradually reduced to less than about 2 during a time of at least about 5 minutes, or the precipitated powder is washed with an acid solution having a pH of less than about 2.

• Assignee: Battelle Memorial Inst.
• Patent Number(s): US 4121910
• OSTI ID: 6795558
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010402* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Purification & Upgrading
BITUMINOUS COAL
BLACK COAL
BROWN COAL
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CARBONATES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL
COAL PREPARATION
COMMINUTION
DEASHING
DESULFURIZATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
LIGNITE
NONMETALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
REMOVAL
SUBBITUMINOUS COAL
SULFIDES
SULFUR
SULFUR COMPOUNDS