Energy Citations Database (ECD) - - Document #6116996
For more than three years, Penn State University was employed by the US Department of Energy to improve the technology for liquefying coal, under Contract Number AC22-83PC60050, as documented herein.
Interestingly enough, as we will document in another dispatch to follow, Penn State University and at least one of the scientists responsible for this study, were, coincident with and following this effort, pursuing even more USDOE-sponsored research to improve and refine coal liquefaction technology.
Like much else about the development of coal liquefaction and gasification technologies, in an extensive, nationwide program organized and financed by our United States Department of Energy, involving multiple research organizations, efforts and reports ended near the middle of the 1980's.
The excerpt, with comment appended:
"Title: Improved coal liquefaction using carbon-supported hydrogenation catalysts: Final technical report for the period October 1983-March 1987
Author(s): Scaroni, A.W.; Derbyshire, F.J.: Abotsi, G.M.K.; Solar, J.M.
Publication Date: June, 1987; Report Number: DOE/PC/60050-12; Contract: AC22- 83PC60050
Research Organization: Pennsylvania State University
Abstract: Various carbons have been prepared (or obtained from commercial sources) and their potential application as catalyst supports investigated, with and without modification to the surface functionality by nitriding and oxidation. Relatively large amounts of nitrogen (3.74%) were introduced into a commercially prepared mesopore carbon (Ambersorb XE-348), which was therefore selected as the principal carbon support. Compared to catalysts prepared upon the original and preoxidized supports (by impregnation with a 90% H2/O/10% EtOH solution of ammonium tetrathiomolybdate), low metal loadings (3% wt Mo) on the nitrided support resulted in greatly enhanced hydrogenative activity, as evidenced by the higher asphaltene conversion to oils, with low attendant coke deposition. ... Since catalytic activity is reported to be influenced by the nature of the metal-containing precursor, catalysts were prepared by the impregnation of different porous carbons with ammonium heptamolybdate and two organometallic precursors: molybdenum-acetylacetonate and molybdenumtricarbonyltriacetonitrile. The activities of the sulfided catalysts were measured for thiophene hydrodesulfurization in a continuous flow, atmospheric pressure reactor. For a given support and at similar metal loadings, the organometallic precursors conferred much higher HDS activities than the ammonium salt precursors. 177 Pages."
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What strikes us in this submission, as in a number of others we've submitted, is the length of the final report, and it's technical density - much evidence of which we felt compelled to edit from presentation in the Abstract. The data are confusing, but what is clear is that very sophisticated knowledge about the technical intricacies of coal liquefaction was generated by Penn State University, and reported to the Federal Government.
Why haven't we US citizens, especially those of us in US Coal Country, been fully apprised of this research, which our taxes paid for; and, why haven't we yet received any benefit from implementation of the Coal conversion technologies that were developed over the several years of this project?