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you can access the research report:
"Co-Processing Coal and Natural Gas by the Hynol Process for Enhanced Methanol Production and Reduced CO2 Emissions
Prepared by:
Meyer Steinberg; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Upton, New York 11973
June 19, 1997
Engineering Technology Division; DEPARTMENT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY, BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY; UPTON, NEW YORK 11973
Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, DC
Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886"
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The report is too lengthy for us to transmit as an attached file.
We do present some excerpts, below, but: Keep in mind as you read them, or browse the full report, that the Methane - the natural gas, with which Coal can be co-processed in the Hynol Process to synthesize the liquid fuel, plastics manufacturing raw material and, as per ExxonMobil's "MTG"(r), Process, Gasoline precursor, Methanol - can itself, through various patented and Nobel Prize-winning technologies, all as we've documented, be synthesized, as "substitute natural gas", from both Coal and Carbon Dioxide.
And, recall our dispatch of yesterday detailing:
"United States Patent 4687570; Direct use of Methane in Coal Liquefaction", Inventor: Meyer Steinberg, dated August 1987 - nearly a decade before this full report, seemingly about the same technology, was published.
Selected excerpts:
"This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy
ABSTRACT: The Hynol Process for conversion of coal and natural gas to methanol as a liquid fuel consists of three consecutive unit operations:
(1) hydrogasification of coal,
(2) steam reforming of the methane formed and added natural gas feedstock, and
(3) catalytic methanol synthesis.
The Hynol Process is a total recycle process. Using a process simulation computer program, mass and energy balances and yields and efficiency data have been obtained for a range of natural gas to coal feedstock ratios. Although the methanol yield increases with natural gas to coal feed ratio, the cost of feedstock per unit methanol is insensitive over a wide range of feedstock ratios. The Hynol Process produces a 13% increase in methanol yield compared to the equivalent of two separate conventional coal gasification and natural gas reforming plants. The CO2 emissions are reduced by 22% for the Hynol plant compared to the conventional processes with greater CO2 reductions at lower gas to coal feedstock ratios. A preliminary cost estimate for a 10,000TonsDay Hynol methanol plant indicates a lower production cost than the current cost of methanol by the conventional natural gas reforming plant. The lower unit energy cost for coal is beneficial in reducing the methanol cost in the Hynol Process."
(Note: We can make Methanol, with Coal, at "lower production cost than the current"; and, "CO2 emissions are reduced by 22% ... compared to the conventional processes.)
"The Hynol Process was originally conceived to process biomass (wood and agricultural products) for the production of methanol with reduced CO2 emission. Effort has also been made to apply the process to municipal solid waste (MSW) feedstock. The Hynol Process in general can be applied to the use of any condensed carbonaceous material as feedstock. A basic feature of the Hynol Process is that natural gas is used as a co-feedstock with the condensed carbonaceous feedstock to produce a higher yield of methanol per unit feedstock than is obtained when using either co-feedstock alone in the conventional process for producing methanol. The reason for the improved yield is that the condensed feedstock has a deficiency of hydrogen compared to carbon, while natural gas has an excess of hydrogen compared to carbon. Thus,the co-feedstock of condensed carbonaceous material with natural gas yields the closest approach to optimizing the hydrogen to carbon content for producing the product methanol. Another feature of the Hynol Process is that it is a complete recycle system maximizing the mass and energy balance. In this paper, we apply the Hynol Process to the co-processing of coal with natural gas."
(This paper deals with "the co-processing of coal with natural gas", but, the process can be applied to "any carbonaceous feedstock" including, as we read this, and recalling some of our earlier reports of similar research, "municipal solid waste" and, we would also propose, CO2-recycling cellulose wastes from forestry and agriculture.)
"HYNOL PROCESS DESCRIPTION
The Hynol Process consists of three process reaction steps:
(1) the hydrogasification of the condensed carbonaceous material (wood, coal, etc.) with recycle hydrogen-rich gas to produce a methane-rich gas,
(2) the steam reforming of the methane-rich gas together with the addition of the co-feedstock methane to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The excess gas from the methanol synthesis reactor which is rich in hydrogen is recycled to the hydrogasifier at the head end of the process.
THE HYDROGASIFIER (HGR)
The main reaction taking place in the HGR is between the condensed carbonaceous carbon and the hydrogen in the recycle gas to produce methane. ... This is an exothermic reaction ... (and the overall reaction process) is energetically about neutral.
The main feature of the HGR is that it is designed so that it is self sufficient in energy not requiring any outside energy to maintain the reaction conditions. The hydrogasification of coal has been studied extensively in the past. Unconverted char from the HGR can be used as a fuel ... .
The steam reformer, also called the steam pyrolysis reactor (SPR), combines the methane with steam to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Any CO2 present and hydrogen also produces carbon monoxide.
(In other words, it produces your basic synthesis gas, "syngas".)
The conventional process for methanol production is based on the steam reforming of natural gas. ... When coal is used as a feedstock, the coal is gasified with steam and oxygen in a gasifier. ... the Hynol plant products 6 times more methanol per unit of coal than the conventional coal gasification plant and 1.4 times more than the natural gas reforming plant. Thus, the Hynol plant products 13% more methanol than the sum of the two conventional coal gasification and methanol reforming plants. The CO2 emission is even more significant in that the Hynol plant products 22% less CO, emissions than the two conventional plants. The CO, emissions become less by 35% when the NG/coal decreases to 0.84. The CO2 emission takes into account the CO2 emitted by the methanol production plants and that generated by the combustion of methanol. It should be noted that methanol used as fuel in internal combustion automotive engines can be 30% more efficient than gasoline driven engines thus further reducing CO, emissions. An even
greater reduction in CO, emission by a factor of at least 2.5 can be achieved when using methanol in a direct fuel cell for automotive power.
(In total, the CO2 emissions savings are quite significant, apparently, and they don't take into account the possibility of using synthetic natural gas, SNG Methane, created via Sabatier conversion of CO2.)
The results of the preliminary cost estimate ... turns out to be $124 per ton or $0.41 per gallon of methanol. The traditional selling price and production cost of methanol for a conventional natural gas reforming plant has been $0.45 per gallon. Because of the mandatory requirement for the addition of MTBE to gasoline which is produced from methanol, the demand has increased the selling price last year to almost $2/gallon. It has since dropped to the present level of about $0.57 per gallon. Thus, the estimated cost of methanol for the coal/natural gas co-feedstock Hynol plant at $0.4l per gallon is highly competitive. It should be noted that even if the capital investment has been under-estimated by 20%, the cost of methanol would only increase by 10% to $0.45 per gallon which is still competitive with the conventional process. Besides the improved yield of methanol compared to the conventional processes mentioned earlier, the cost of coal which makes up about 25% of the feedstock energy cost of the plant is less than half the cost of natural gas on a unit energy basis. The result is a lower overall unit feedstock cost and, as shown earlier, this factor appears to be insensitive to the natural gas/coal feedstock ratio.
CONCLUSIONS
The Hynol Process operating with coal and natural gas as feedstocks yields at least 13% more methanol than the equivalent of two separate conventional steam-oxygen coal gasification and natural gas-steam reforming plants. The CO2 emissions become even less with lower gas to coal feedstock ratios.
The Hynol cost for methanol appears to be insensitive to the natural gas to coal feedstock ratio over a wide range."
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If we read all of it correctly, the liquid fuel, plastics manufacturing raw material and gasoline precursor, Methanol, can be made and then used more cheaply, and with lower CO2 emissions, from Coal and Methane, which could include Methane synthesized via CO2 Sabatier recycling as well as from Coal hydrogasification, than it is currently, commercially, produced via the conventional process of the steam reforming of natural gas.