http://www.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20archive/Files/08_1_PHILADELPHIA_04-64_0207.pdf
In April of 1964, the Pittsburgh, PA, US Bureau of Mines lab knew that Coal could be converted into SNG (synthetic, or substitute, natural gas) Methane.
Our comments follow excerpts from, linked above and included as an attached document, the:
"Development of Catalysts and Reactor Systems for Methanation
J. H. Field, J. J. Demeter, A. J. Forney, and D. Bienstock
U. S. Bureau of Mines, 4800 Forbes Avenue,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
The continued increase in the consumption of natural gas, the slowly declining reserves-to-consumption ratio, and the slow but steady increase in the price of natural gas have extended the interest in production of
high-Btu gas from coal. Estimates of the time when supplemental gas will be required range from about 10 to 25 years, depending on the estimated rise in consumption and ultimate reserves. Desspite record production, reserves of natural gas are still increasing slowly. For example, while U.S. production increased to 13.75 trillion cubic feet in 1962, the reserves at the end of 1962 were 285.3 trillion cubic feet, an increase of 8 trillion cubic feet for the year, with gas well completions at an all time high at 5,848. Importation of gas from Canada and Mexico and possibly of liquefied methane by tanker are other factors that will affect the need for supplemental gas. Nevertheless, synthetic pipeline gas from coal can insure a long-time domestic source of gas from an abundant raw material.
Research is continuing on the principal methods of producing high-Btu gas by coal hydrogenation ... and catalytic methanation of synthesis gas, 3H2 + CO + CH4 + H20. The synthesis gas is obtained by
gasifying coal with steam. Direct hydrogenation has a higher possible thermal efficiency and requires only about half as much gas as methanation -- 1,500 to 2,000 cubic feet of hydrogen as compared with 3,000 to 4,000 cubic feet of synthesis gas per 1,000 cubic feet of methane. The 1,500-cubic-foot value is achieved by utilizing some of the hydrogen in the coal and converting only part of the carbon. The lower requirement of 3,000 cubic feet of synthesis gas for catalytic methanation can be realized when a gasification process is employed that yields a gas containing about 10 percent methane.
Despite the inherent advantage of hydrogenation over catalytic methanation, there are two reasons justifying continued developnent of the catalytic method. First, catalytic methanation, being a gas phase reaction
conducted at mild conditions of about 300 to 350 C and 20 to 30 atmospheres, is much simpler to operate and technical feasibility is apparent.
In the past 20 years catalytic methanation has been investigated in fixed-bed and fluidized reactors. The principal objectives have been to develop reactor systems that permit effective removal of the exothermic
heat of reaction in order to provide adequate temperature control and maintain a long catalyst life. Important contributions in catalytic methanation have been made in the past 20 years ... .
Our group at the Bureau of Mines has reported previously the development of a hot-gas-recycle system. This paper covers further methanation studies using hot-gas recycle and bench-scale tests of a newer reactor system, the tube-wall reactor, in which the wall of the tube is coated with catalyst.
Progress has been made in developing reactor systems for methanation that provide effective heat transfer and excellent temperature control. Raney nickel sprayed on plates or tube surfaces and extracted with alkali has proved to be an active and durable catalyst. The nickel is thoroughly utilized by being applied in a thin layer. The life of the catalyst has been sufficient to attain a law catalyst cost per unit of product gas."
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We have known, in the heart of US Coal Country, for nearly half a century, since 1964, that we can synthesize Methane from Coal. And, by 1964, we had developed a technology to accomplish that synthesis via a "reaction conducted at mild conditions" that was "much simpler to operate" and with a "technical feasibility" that was "apparent".
We'll not cite any of our earlier references, but, please remember, and we do, in light of some of our pending submissions, urge you to keep in mind, that:
Once we have Methane, whether we obtain that Methane from the Sabatier-type recycling of Carbon Dioxide or the hydro- or steam-gasification, the "hydrogenation", of Coal, we can convert it directly into liquid fuels; or, we can use it to recycle more Carbon Dioxide - as in our most previous submission concerning the Dow Chemical Corporation's US Patent Application: "CONCURRENT OXIDATION AND STEAM METHANE REFORMING PROCESS AND REACTOR THEREFOR, United States Patent Application 20090170967" -into liquid fuels; or, we can use it to improve and enhance further processes of Coal liquefaction.
And, as in so many of our previous reports, it all starts with Coal.