H-COAL PROCESS:SLURRY OIL SYSTEM
We have submitted earlier reports on the development of the "H-Coal" coal liquefaction process, which was developed and refined, with contracted US Government support, at several sites around the nation, by several corporate and institutional contractors.
One of the contractors involved was Hydrocarbon Research, Incorporated, or, "HRI".
HRI are well-represented in the available Coal liquefaction literature, but we have cited them only sparingly in the course of our reportage, since we have been unable to find out much of anything substantive about them.
Certainly, they are not ExxonMobil or Consol.
However, herein we submit a US Patent for Coal liquefaction technology that was developed by HRI, both because it's validity is confirmed by the nature of the assignment of the patent rights, and, because it was awarded in the same time frame as that during which a surprising, even shocking, number of Coal conversion patents were being issued to entities, as we have been documenting, that include Consol and the companies that became ExxonMobil.
Comment follows excerpts from:
"United States Patent 3,540,995 - H-Coal Process: Slurry Oil System
Date: November, 1970
Inventors: Ronald Wolk, et. al.
Assignees: The United States of America; and Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., NY
Abstract: An improved manner of operating a coal hydrogenation in an ebullated bed reactor wherein the composition of the liquid slurry within the reactor is controlled so as to contain a liquid residuum content of about 30 to 45 weight percent and an unconverted processed solids content of from 10 to 25 weight percent.
This invention resulted from work done under Contract 14-01-0001-477 with the Office of Coal Research of the Department of the Interior.
Background: The H-Coal process converts coal to a light crude distillate by hydrogenation in an ebullated catalyst bed reactor.
Summary: The present invention is directed to an improved method of hydrogenating coal."