US National Lab Liquefies Coal

October 12, 2009

To further support our contention that there is much, much more to the story of how technology is available, and how that technology is being further refined, that would allow us, the United States, to convert abundant coal and CO2-recycling renewable biomass into the liquid fuels we need, liquid fuels that we are led to believe we're short of and that we must import, through bloated oil companies and from hostile OPEC nations, we submit the enclosed selection of works from one of our premier National Laboratories, Sandia.

Some excerpts, comment follows:

"Fine particle catalyst testing

Sponsor: DOE/FE

Contact: Fran Stohl

The goal of Sandia's Testing of Fine-Particle Catalysts project is to evaluate the fine-particle size unsupported catalysts that are being developed for coal liquefaction. It is difficult to compare catalytic testing results from different researchers because of the variety of testing procedures used. Sandia has developed a standard test procedure that can be applied to all these catalysts so the best catalysts can be identified. This testing is performed in small batch microautoclaves. Additional efforts include developing procedures to coprocess waste materials (such as plastics or heavy resid) with coal in coal liquefaction reactions.

Direct coal liquefaction

Sponsor: DOE/FE

Contact: Tim Gardner

Sandia has been involved in the direct liquefaction of coal and the upgrading of coal-derived liquids for over ten years. Catalysts based on sulfided NiMo phases supported on silica-doped hydrous titanium oxide (HTO:Si) have been developed which offer distinct advantages over similar catalysts utilizing commercial alumina supports. These advantages are related to the very high dispersion of the catalytic active phase on the HTO:Si supports and the ability to synthesize the catalyst in either a bulk or a coated form. Superior results have been obtained for the HTO:Si-supported NiMo catalysts relative to commercial alumina-supported NiMo catalysts in model reactions (pyrene hydrogenation [see Figure 2] and dibenzothiophene hydrodesulfurization), as well as for actual pilot scale direct coal liquefaction tests and continuous hydrotreatment of coal- or petroleum-derived liquids.

Novel catalysts can enhance the efficiency of coal liquefaction processes through improvements in catalyst activity, selectivity, and life. A viable coal liquefaction process can improve U.S. economic competitiveness by offering an alternative to imported oil and thereby keeping an economic cap on the cost of imported oil. These new catalyst materials may also find important applications in the efficient upgrading of heavy oils, bitumens, and petroleum residues, which are becoming increasingly important as the world's supply of light crude oil is depleted.

The primary goal for the Advanced Direct Liquefaction Concepts for Improved Efficiency and Economics project (Contact: Fran Stohl) is to evaluate new concepts for producing coal liquids that will enable coal-derived liquids to be obtained cost effectively. Sandia's experimental work is aimed at optimizing coal liquefaction processing conditions for various portions of the coal liquids by using continuous operation reactors that can be run unattended. This project is a joint effort with the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research, CONSOL Inc., and LDP Associates.

The Refining of Coal Liquids project (Contact: Fran Stohl) involves hydrotreating various distillate cuts of the final coal-derived liquid product to determine how best to introduce these liquids into an existing refinery. This project also uses Sandia's continuous operation reactors. This project is a joint effort with Bechtel, Southwest Research Institute, Amoco Oil Co., and M.W. Kellogg.

Indirect coal liquefaction

Sponsor: DOE/FE

Contact: Nancy Jackson

Fossil fuel/waste coprocessing

Sponsor: DOE/FE and DOE/EE

Contact: Anthony Martino

Under Construction

Feedstocks and fuels

Sponsor: LDRD (internal Sandia R&D support)

Contact: Nancy Jackson"

Allow us to recap some of what's going on at Sandia, in addition to the work on CO2 recycling we documented for you quite some time ago. They are/have been:

- developing technology "for coal liquefaction" and "procedures to coprocess waste materials (such as plastics or heavy resid) with coal in coal liquefaction reactions."

- "involved in the direct liquefaction of coal and the upgrading of coal-derived liquids for over ten years."

- working on "novel catalysts" that "can enhance the efficiency of coal liquefaction processes through improvements in catalyst activity, selectivity, and life."

- evaluating "new concepts for producing coal liquids that will enable coal-derived liquids to be obtained cost effectively."

They note that "A viable coal liquefaction process can improve U.S. economic competitiveness by offering an alternative to imported oil and thereby keeping an economic cap on the cost of imported oil."

We'll note, again, that we've also reported on advanced work at Sandia which focuses on the recycling of Carbon Dioxide.

It all sounds good. Where are the results and why haven't they been made public, or publicized, especially in Coal Country? Some contact names and links are included in this dispatch. About time some Coal Country journalists started following up, isn't it? Don't Coal Country people have a right to know?