Patent US3740193
In further support of our ongoing theses, that: Needed Hydrogen for the Hydrogenation and Liquefaction of Coal can be readily generated from reactions between Steam and Coal; and, that Big Oil and our own US Government have known that to be true for quite some time, we submit, from nearly four decades ago, from well before the concerted OPEC extortions, Persian Gulf conflicts and assorted oil-related environmental disasters we've subsequently endured, the enclosed and attached US Patent.
Comment follows excerpts from:
"United States Patent 3,740,193 - Hydrogen (from) Steam Gasification of Carbonaceous Materials
Date: June, 1973
Inventor: Clyde Aldridge, Louisiana, et. al.
Assignee: Esso Research and Engineering Company
Abstract: A hydrogen-rich gaseous stream is produced by contacting in a reaction zone ... a carbonaceous material with steam ... .
Background: This invention relates to a novel and improved process for producing hydrogen-rich gases.
With the increasing need for hydrogen in the refining of petroleum and for the production of synthetic fuels, it has become desireable to find a new economic source of hydrogen-rich gas. One possible source would be through the steam gasification of carbonaceous materials, in particular sulfur-containing materials ... .
... there is a great need in the petroleum industry for a new and economic source of hydrogen. One way to produce hydrogen is to steam gasify materials containing carbon. The carbon will react with the steam to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
(Your basic, hydrogen-enriched synthesis gas, "syngas". - JtM)
(Any) carbonaceous material could be used in this process. This would include ... coal (and) wood ... ."
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In point of fact, a close reading of the full patent reveals that, with more or less irony for all of us Coal-mining hicks, that Esso actually intended to make Hydrogen, from Steam and Coal, so that they could more economically and efficiently refine their crude petroleum, although we do note their reference to "the production of synthetic fuels".
The point is: If we need additional Hydrogen, to further hydrogenate carbonaceous raw materials generated from Coal, and/or from Carbon-recycling "wood", for use in the manufacture of "synthetic fuels", we can find an "economic source of hydrogen" in the use of "steam" for the gasification of, even, "sulfur-containing materials", including, specifically, "coal".
