Japan Improves CoalTl with Waste Tires

October 31, 2009

Additive Effect of Waste Tire on the Hydrogenolysis Reaction of Coal Liquefaction Residue - Energy & Fuels (ACS Publications)

We some time ago documented British and US research, including work performed by WVU's Department of Chemical Engineering, which demonstrated that scrapped auto tires, as were once accumulated in some abundance in large piles scattered about the West Virginia hills, could either be liquefied themselves, using coal conversion technologies, into liquid fuel raw materials; or, be liquefied along with coal as an additional raw material.

Herein, Japanese researchers, in a fairly recent report, confirm some of those results, revealing that the addition of waste tires not only enhances the process of coal liquefaction, as earlier reported, but also enables the conversion, into liquid hydrocarbons, of previously "insoluble" coal-to-liquid conversion residue.

Additional comment follows the excerpt:

"Additive Effect of Waste Tire on the Hydrogenolysis Reaction of Coal Liquefaction Residue

Motoyuki Sugano, Daigorou Onda, and Kiyoshi Mashimo

[Unable to display image]Department of Materials and Applied Chemistry, College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, 1-8 Kanda surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8308, Japan

Energy Fuels, 2006, 20 (6), pp 2713–2716

Abstract

A numerous amount of waste tire is landfilled or dumped all over the world, which causes environmental problems, such as destruction of natural places and the risk of fires. On the other hand, the coal liquefaction residue (CLR) is produced in 30% yield through the process supporting unit (PSU) of the NEDOL coal liquefaction process. Therefore, the investigation on an effective method for utilization of waste tire and CLR is required. In this study, the simultaneous hydrogenolysis of CLR and pulverized waste tire was carried out by using tetralin. The yields in the simultaneous hydrogenolysis were compared with algebraic sum of the yields of the individual hydrogenolyses of waste tire alone and coal alone. In the simultaneous hydrogenolysis, the synergistic effects to upgrading, such as an increase in the yield of the oil constituent and a decrease in the yield of the asphaltene constituent, occurred because of the stabilization of asphaltenic radicals from CLR with aliphatic radicals from tire. The decrease in asphaltene yield in the simultaneous hydrogenolysis was pronounced with the increase in the tire:CLR ratio because the solvent effects of liquefied tire, such as stabilization of radicals, hydrogen shuttling, and heat transfer, were enhanced. Accordingly, it is estimated that the simultaneous hydrogenolysis of CLR and waste tire is an effective method for processing both materials."

We note that similar synergistic effects in the production of liquid fuel have been observed, by other researchers we've previously cited, when other hydro-carbonaceous wastes, such as sawdust, scrap plastic and sewer sludge, were added to coal in primarily coal-to-liquid conversion processes.

As indicated by the WVU patent we recently cited for you, even farm animal carcasses and cow pies can be liquefied into fuel, using coal liquefaction technology.

In some of those cases, not only would more liquid fuel be produced, but Carbon Dioxide, through the inclusion of biological materials, would be recycled, as well.

There are tremendous potentials which can be realized through the full implementation of coal-to-liquid conversion technology. It's way past time those potentials were exposed and explained to those who would benefit most from their implementation: The citizens of the United States of America.