http://www.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20archive/Files/48_2_New%20York_10-03_0753.pdf
We remind you of our very recent dispatch concerning the United States Patent, Number 3,779,725, for Coal Gasification, which was self-described as a "method for producing high methane content gas", from Coal.
It was, we believe, only our latest of multiple reports, with others to follow, demonstrating that Methane can be manufactured via processes based on the gasification of Coal, with added steam or water.
And, we call your attention to our dispatch of yesterday: "Pittsburgh DOE Methane to Gasoline", wherein USDOE scientists based in Pittsburgh verified another technical route, in addition to others we've already reported which have been developed and established by other entities, primarily oil companies, that would enable us, once we have synthesized Methane, either from Coal; or, via Sabatier-type processes, from Carbon Dioxide, to make Gasoline.
Herein, we see that the Pittsburgh USDOE laboratory has also defined a way in which such Coal-based, or CO2-derived, Methane, once synthesized, can be economically converted into the versatile Methanol, which, though itself a serviceable liquid fuel, can be further catalyzed into Gasoline; or, into a range of products useful in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially-valuable compounds.
Comment follows very brief excerpts from the otherwise highly-technical:
"Methanol and Hydrogen from Methane, Water and Light
Charles E. Taylor; U.S. Department of Energy; Pittsburgh, PA
Research on the conversion of natural gas (methane) has been an ongoing effort at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) for over 20 years. A long-term goal of our research team is to explore novel pathways for the direct conversion of methane to liquid fuels, chemicals, and intermediates.
Literature reports have indicated that photochemical oxidation of methane may be a commercially feasible route to methanol. In these studies, methane, water and light are reacted at moderate temperatures and pressures.
Research in our laboratory [3] has shown that, methane, dissolved in water, at temperatures over 70 C, with a semiconductor catalyst, can be converted to methanol and hydrogen. The use of three relatively abundant and inexpensive reactants - light, water, and methane - to produce methanol is an attractive process option.
The main advantage of using a photocatalyst to promote the photoconversion of methane to methanol is that the presence of the catalyst, in conjunction with an electron transfer agent, allows reaction to occur with visible light instead of with ultraviolet. This greatly simplifies reactor design and will permit flexibility in the selection of the light source. The products of the reaction of interest, methanol and hydrogen, are both commercially desirable as fuels or chemical intermediates.
By use of a photocatalyst and electron-transfer reagent, we have been able to convert methane and water to methanol and hydrogen."
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To hammer some points:
We can, as we have previously documented, make Methane either from Coal, via hydro-gasification; or, from Carbon Dioxide, via Sabatier-type processes.
We can economically convert Methane, as herein, using, basically, sunlight, i.e., "visible light instead of (only) ultraviolet", into Methanol and Hydrogen.
We can convert Methanol, through well-known and commercialized processes, such as the ExxonMobil MTG(r) technology, into Gasoline; or, we can use it as a "chemical intermediate".
We can use Hydrogen in long-established petroleum refining techniques to further hydrogenate, to upgrade into hydrocarbon fuels, the carbonaceous liquids produced by some long-known methods for the liquefaction of Coal.
