United States Patent: 4443321
In a previous dispatch, we reported on a NASA-developed Coal liquefaction technology, specified as:
"US Patent 4,121,995 - Surfactant-assisted Liquefaction of Particulate Carbon Substances; 1978.".
Not content with only one way to make liquid rocket fuel out of Coal, our space rangers kept at it, and, six years later, came up with:
"United States Patent 4,443,321 - Supercritical Solvent Coal Extraction
Date: April, 1984
Inventor: Leslie Compton, California
Assignee: The United States of America
The invention described herein was made in the performance of work under a NASA contract and is subject to the provisions of Section 305 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, public law 83-568 (72 Statute 435; 42 U.S.C. 2454).
Abstract: Yields of soluble organic extract are increased up to about 50% by the supercritical extraction of particulate coal at a temperature below the polymerization temperature for coal extract fragments (450C) and a pressure from 500 psig to 5,000 psig by the conjoint use of a solvent mixture containing a low volatility, high critical temperature coal dissolution catalyst such as phenanthrene and a high volatility, low critical temperature solvent such as toluene.
Claims: 1. A method of separating an organic extract from an inorganics-containing coal comprising the steps of:
- adding to a closed reactor particulate coal and a mixture of solvents consisting of a first and second solvent absent straight chain polynuclear compounds and hydrogen donor solvents; said first solvent being present in the mixture in an amount above 1% and below 50% by weight and consisting of at least one low volatility, bent ring, polycyclic, aromatic organic compound containing at least three rings, having a high critical temperature above 450C. and being capable of at least 20% by weight catalytic dissolution of the coal into the soluble extract fragments and the second solvent consisting of a higher volatility organic or inorganic compound which is stable at the operating temperature and having a critical temperature below 300C.;
- heating the reactor to a temperature above 250C and below 450C and within 200C above or below the critical temperature of the solvent mixture at a pressure from 500 to 5,000 psig to form a dense gas phase;
- extracting organic coal components into the dense gas phase; and
- removing said phase from the reactor.
2. A method according to claim 1 in which the first solvent is anthracene oil.
3. A method according to claim 1 in which the first solvent is one or more solvents selected from the group consisting of phenanthrene, methyl phenanthrenes, phenanthridine, carbazole, pyrene, 5,6-benzoquinolidine and 5,6-benzoquinoline."
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We close our excerpts at this point, since our space-age rocket scientists revealed a fact we have earlier documented, in much older Coal liquefaction technologies; a fact which many years ago started being referred to as "long known", and "old in the art":
Primary Coal tars, such as they treated telegraph poles and fence posts with in the 1800's, including, for instance, as specified above, "anthracene" and "phenanthrene", can serve as productive agents for the liquefaction and hydrogenation of more raw Coal.