United States Patent: 4640766
The, we would contend deliberately, vague title of the United States Patent we enclose herein doesn't even begin to convey the import of the technology disclosed. And, the, again we would contend deliberate, heavy use of abbreviated generic chemical formulae does little to clear things up.
Only when you get to the "Preferred Embodiments" section, do the inventors, and our United States Patent Office, take a stab at revealing the true import.
An advance excerpt from that segment:
"Preferably, the process is applied to a feed in which the ... hydrocarbons consist substantially of methane. ... The reforming according to the invention can be carried out by contacting the hydrocarbons to be converted together with carbon dioxide and steam."
If you have the patience and understanding to wade through the jargon, you will discover that this Big Oil technology is all about reacting Carbon Dioxide with Methane, and with Steam, in order to synthesize higher hydrocarbons.
It is, in fact, another version of the Tri-reforming technology for Carbon Dioxide conversion and recycling espoused most recently by scientists at Penn State University; and, by other scientists in Israel and Switzerland, as we have been reporting.
Summary comment follows excerpts from:
"United States Patent 4,640,766 - Process for the Preparation of Hydrocarbons
Date: February, 1987
Inventors: Martin Post, Houston, and Swan Sie, Amsterdam
Assignee: Shell Oil Company, Texas
Abstract: C.sub.4.sup.- hydrocarbons are converted into syngas with a H.sub.2 /CO molar ratio between 0.25 and 2.25 by reforming at a pressure above 10 bar in the presence of specified amounts of carbon dioxide and steam followed by conversion of the syngas into C.sub.5.sup.+ hydrocarbons over a cobalt-containing catalyst or a catalyst combination comprising a cobalt-containing catalyst and having CO-shift activity.
Claims: A process for the preparation of C.sub.5.sup.+ hydrocarbons suitable for the production of middle distillates from C.sub.4.sup.- hydrocarbons comprising: reforming C.sub.4.sup.- hydrocarbons at a pressure higher than 10 bar in the presence of carbon dioxide and steam into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen ... .
Background: Hydrocarbons with at least five carbon atoms per molecule (hereinafter referred to as "C.sub.5.sup.+ hydrocarbons") can be prepared from hydrocarbons having at most four carbon atoms per molecule (hereinafter referred to as "C.sub.4.sup.- hydrocarbons") by a two-step process in which the C.sub.4.sup.- hydrocarbons are converted in the first step by steam reforming into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which mixture is subsequently converted in the second step into a mixture of hydrocarbons consisting substantially of C.sub.5.sup.+ hydrocarbons by contacting it at elevated temperature and pressure with a catalyst. The reaction which takes place in the second step of the process is known in the literature as the Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis.
Preferably, the process is applied to a feed in which the C.sub.4.sup.- hydrocarbons consist substantially of methane."
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The full disclosure reveals a dirty big secret that few are aware of:
Despite the claims of some outspoken wealthy proponents of natural gas usage, as a means to escape our current energy "crisis", deposits of natural gas, as they exist in geologic formations, can be already contaminated with up to 75% of Carbon Dioxide.
Yes, that is correct: Up to 75% of what comes out of a natural gas well can be plain old CO2, which then, depending on the concentration, is either separated from the natural gas and vented to the atmosphere, or, simply piped on to the consumer, where it, along with CO2 derived from the combustion of the natural gas, eventually winds up, as well, in the atmosphere.
This patent is concerned primarily with pre-reacting natural gas that's already so inherently contaminated with Carbon Dioxide, to create a gas mixture suitable for converting into liquid hydrocarbon fuels, which can be accomplished via the now-venerable "Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis", as Shell records, above.