Methanation process - US4211718
We headlined this dispatch as "Phillips Oil Patents Coal to Methane". But, this oil company was careful to use the dirty, four-letter word "Coal" only once, as we were able to find it, in the full disclosure, as in:
"An important route to manufacturing methane is the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. Although this reaction has been known since 1902, it still suffers from some technological problems. Important among these problems is the fact that commonly available sources of carbon monoxide, e.g., coal and lignite ... contain ... sulfur".
See if you can find it.
However, this patent is all about adding steam to a "synthesis gas", another apparently offensive phrase used only once, as in:
"It has been found that if the sulfur-free synthesis gas contains from about one to about 30 mole percent of steam, the sulfur-poisoned iridium and rhodium catalysts regain essentially all of the initial methanation activity at similar conditions" - to improve the processes of converting such synthesis gas into Methane.
Some excerpts, comment appended:
"Title: Methanation Process; Patent Number US4211718
Date: July 08, 1980
.
Inventors: Jack Finch, Forrest Poska; Bartlesville, OK
Assignee: Phillips Petroleum Company
Abstract: Methane is prepared by contacting carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of a supported iridium-containing or rhodium-containing catalyst and a small, effective amount of steam to maintain methanation catalyst activity. In another embodiment, the methanation activity of supported iridium-containing and rhodium-containing catalysts lost due to sulfur poisoning is restored by contacting the catalyst with a sulfur-free feed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen under methanation conditions in the presence of a small, effective amount of steam for a period of time sufficient to substantially restore methanation catalyst activity.
Description: The manufacture of methane as a substitute natural gas will become increasingly important in the future as deposits of natural gas become depleted while the demand continues. An important route to manufacturing methane is the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. Although this reaction has been known since 1902, it still suffers from some technological problems. Important among these problems is the fact that commonly available sources of carbon monoxide, e.g., coal and lignite, via the carbon-steam reaction, invariably contain enough sulfur which, if not removed, would poison completely the common methanation catalysts such as nickel. When this happens, the catalyst must be discarded and replaced since there is no presently known way to rejuvenate it. While it will continue to be necessary to remove essentially all of the sulfur from methane--natural or substitute--to protect the consumer, it would be helpful if the catalyst on which carbon monoxide is methanated could tolerate continuous traces or occasional overdoses of sulfur without requiring catalyst replacement.
The present invention is directed to improved methanation catalysts and to the restoration of catalyst activity of sulfur-poisoned methanation catalysts."
---------
The invention is, in effect, an improvement on the technology for the synthesis of Methane from Coal.
And, once we have Methane, as we have many times documented, we can convert it directly into liquid fuels; or, we can add it to more synthesis gas derived from Coal to improve the production of hydrocarbon fuels; or, we can "Tri-reform" it with Carbon Dioxide to make more liquid fuels.
We have the technologies in hand to free ourselves from economic bondage to overseas oil. All we have to do is start using those technologies; all of which seem to start with: Coal.