Hydrogenolysis of coal hydrogenation products
We have reported several times on the Coal liquefaction plant operated for a time, long ago now, by the old Union Carbide Corporation, now a part of Dow Chemical, in South Charleston, West Virginia.
We have also documented that many companies, some with US Government support, have devoted effort to the successful development of technologies for upgrading Coal liquids, once produced, to make them more suitable as direct replacements for petroleum-derived fuels.
Herein, we see that Union Carbide, as well, in West Virginia, also addressed the issue of refining and upgrading liquid products derived from Coal.
Comment follows extremely brief excerpts from:
"United States Patent 2,913,397 - Hydrogenolysis of Coal Hydrogenation Products
Date: November, 1959
Inventor: James Murray, et. al.; Charleston, Nitro and St. Albans, WV
Assignee: Union Carbide Corporation, NY
Abstract: This application relates to chemical processes. More particularly it relates to an improvement in the processes for obtaining chemicals from coal.
Our present improvement is directed to a hydrogenolysis of coal hydrogenation products ... ."
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The full Disclosure is so lengthy and detailed that it beggars any further attempt at summation. In brief, they put a lot of thought and effort into converting raw Coal liquids into other, more valuable hydrocarbon products.
And, our take on the whole thing is that Carbide's term "hydrogenolysis" is synonymous with, not just analogous to, the petroleum industry's "hydrocracking" of crude petroleum.
