Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information - - Document #2244
We have been reporting on the USDOE's major CoalTL development effort, undertaken in the last decade and a half of the last century; and apparently supervised by the Federal Energy Technology Centers in Morgantown, WV, and Pittsburgh, PA; to develop technologies that would enable us to convert our abundant Coal into the liquid transportation fuels we need.
We noted that the University of Delaware, like West Virginia University, was one of the sub-contractors involved in the research. Their primary area of responsibility, as we understand it, was to develop technology for the further refining of carbonaceous residues, the "resid", left behind by some primary Coal liquefaction process, as evidenced in our most recent report of Consol's 1962 United States Patent, Number 3018241, for the "Production of ... Liquid Fuels from Coal".
Herein, we present two reports of Delaware's work, and their results. The first, linked above, but available as well through the enclosed icon following, is far too large for us, with our limited capacities, to download and retransmit. The Abstract, however, should be revealing enough to motivate those Coal partisans genuinely interested in the truth that Coal can, on a practical basis, be cleanly, completely and economically converted into the liquid fuels that we are now being extorted by foreign powers for the supply of, to open the file up and make it freely available to those who most deserve to have the information: the tax-paying citizens of the United States who paid for the work, and especially those tax-paying US citizens resident in US Coal Country.
First up, is the official report of the work performed by the University of Delaware, in the secondary conversion of primary Coal liquefaction process residues, under contract to the United States Department of Energy. Following the excerpt from the DOE report, is, via another link and excerpt, what we think to be another, very interesting, artifact of this work.
As follows, trusting the imbedded link, just below, transmits with function intact; and with comment interspersed and appended:
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"Title: Coal Liquefaction Process Streams: The Kinetics of Coal Liquefaction Distillation Resid Conversion
Author(s): D. Campbell; D.G. Nichols; et. al. - (All, we believe, with the University of Delaware. - JtM)
Report Number: DE-AC22-94PC93054--16; DOE Contract: AC22-94PC93054; June, 1998.
Research Organization: Federal Energy Technology Center(s), Morgantown, WV, and Pittsburgh, PA
Abstract: Under subcontract from CONSOL Inc. (DOE Contract No. DE- AC22- 94PC93054), the University of Delaware studied the mechanism and kinetics of coal liquefaction resid conversion. The program at Delaware was conducted between August 15, 1994, and April 30, 1997. It consisted of two primary tasks. The first task was to develop an empirical test to measure the reactivity toward hydrocracking of coal-derived distillation resids. The second task was to formulate a computer model to represent the structure of the resids and a kinetic and mechanistic model of resid reactivity based on the structural representations. An Introduction and Summary of the project authored by CONSOL and a report of the program findings authored by the University of Delaware researchers are presented here. INTRODUCTION Resid hydrocracking is a key reaction of modern (i. e., distillate- producing) coal liquefaction processes. Coals are readily converted to resid and lighter products in the liquefaction process. The resid is combined with fresh coal in a ratio often greater than 1:1, and some vacuum gas oil and is recycled to be further converted. Understanding the chemistry of resids and resid reactivity is important to improve direct liquefaction process design and to achieve economic objectives for direct coal liquefaction. Computational models that predict resid conversion from the chemical characteristics of the resids and reaction conditions would be a cost-efficient way to explore process variables. Implementation of such models could aid in the design and operation of liquefaction facilities."
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Note: "Under subcontract from CONSOL Inc. ... the University of Delaware studied ... coal liquefaction resid conversion." And: "Research Organization: Federal Energy Technology Center(s), Morgantown, WV, and Pittsburgh, PA".
Did anyone, outside the USDOE's Morgantown and Pittsburgh offices, in US Coal Country know there was any coal liquefaction going on for there even to be such a thing as "coal liquefaction resid"?
Why not?
There's not much we can add to the above, except to ask: Why haven't the results been implemented? Far past time they were, don't you think?
We have seen evidence that some, scant, results of the University of Delaware's work were presented in a few, more public, forums. However, the only one we have so far been able to access was delivered at a conference half-way around, and down under, the world.
From a somewhat obscure, for those of us in United States Coal Country, conference in Australia, we submit:
Kinetics of coal liquefaction distillation resid conversion
"Title: Kinetics of Coal Liquefaction Distillation Resid Conversion
Authors: Shaojie Wang; He Huang; Keyu Wang; Klein, M.T.; Calkins, W.H.
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
Source: Asia Pacific Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Technology, Australia; 1998
Abstract: The objectives of this study were to understand the characteristics of coal liquefaction resids from the direct two-stage coal liquefaction process, the reactivity of these resids in hydroconversion, and the relationship between resid reactivity and resid composition. A suite of 15 distillation resids obtained from two-stage pilot plant liquefaction runs were extensively characterized. An empirical direct liquefaction test was developed to determine the relative resid reactivity in hydroconversion and was applied to these resids. The kinetics of hydrocracking of two of the resids were also investigated in more detail. The presence of about 10-15% of an unconvertible component in the resids was indicated and isolated. The source of this unconvertible component is being investigated."
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First of all, it seems strange, doesn't it, that information on technology to more fully convert coal into liquid fuels, which was generated by work paid for, via the USDOE, by US tax dollars, was only semi-publicly unveiled at a conference about as far away as you could get from where the work was actually financed, supervised and done; and, from where the information was actually needed?
But, note: In the immediately foregoing, it appears that at least 85% of residues from a primary coal liquefaction process can be themselves further liquefied and converted into hydrocarbon liquids. Without citation, we submit that other reports we've earlier brought to your attention indicate that resid from primary coal conversion processes accounts for about 15% of the mass of the original coal feed. In other words, we can convert 85% of coal into liquids. Then, we can convert 85% of the remaining 15% of "insoluble" residue into liquids.
The restaurant worker and skilled tip-splitter who shelters us suggests that means right around 97% of the original coal can, ultimately, be converted into liquids which can be further processed into needed fuels and chemicals.
