Two United States Patents issued to the same team of Texaco scientists are enclosed and disclosed in this dispatch. The latter patent is linked above, and the other, precedent invention follows below.
Both of them, significantly, contain the following:
"The Bureau of Mines Report PB 203,669, entitled "Converting Organic Wastes to Oil", describes the reaction of carbon monoxide and water with various biological wastes containing cellulose, and other carbohydrates. These wastes include wood wastes (largely cellulose and liquid), sewage sludge and other urban wastes (mostly cellulose and other carbohydrates plus proteins and fats), and agricultural wastes such as cow manure. They have found that by reaction of these materials with CO and water a low sulfur oil can be produced."
The utility of the water-carbon monoxide combination, in hydrogenating Coal, or any Carbonaceous material, down to and even including pig manure, has, as we've lately been documenting in separate dispatches, been well-established in technical circles, while remaining unknown to our OPEC-oppressed United States public.
Nevertheless, Coal and naturally-recycled, biologically-derived Carbon, conversion and hydrogenation technology, based on reactions of Carbon with Steam and Carbon Monoxide - which can handily be made by passing Carbon Dioxide through red-hot Coal - is, it seems, according to the US Patent Office, viable.
As seen in our excerpts from the above link, with an additional link and associated excerpts, and our further comments, following:
"United States Patent 4,102,749 - Making Oil from Reactive Sludges and Slurries
Date: July, 1978
Inventor: Howard Hess, et. al., NY
Assignee: Texaco Incorporated, NY
Abstract: A process for making low sulfur oil by reacting aqueous reactive sludges and slurries with hot, pressurized carbon monoxide and hydrogen (synthesis gas) wherein the wastes are first concentrated by coking ... .
Claims: A process for making low sulfur oil from an aqueous charge containing cellulose and other carbohydrates comprising coking said charge ... to form an aqueous slurry containing cokes solids; ... contacting ... concentrated slurry with hot pressurized synthesis gas ... to form a low sulfur oil, gases and carbon and inorganic solids and separating said oil from said carbon and inorganic solids and gases. ... wherein said charge consists of sewage sludge.
Background and Summary: This invention is concerned with a process for making low sulfur oil from sewage sludge.
The Bureau of Mines Report PB 203,669, entitled "Converting Organic Wastes to Oil", describes the reaction of carbon monoxide and water with various biological wastes containing cellulose, and other carbohydrates. These wastes include wood wastes (largely cellulose and liquid), sewage sludge and other urban wastes (mostly cellulose and other carbohydrates plus proteins and fats), and agricultural wastes such as cow manure. They have found that by reaction of these materials with CO and water a low sulfur oil can be produced.
One difficulty with this process as applied to sewage is that the sludge is so dilute that the reactor employed for the reaction of the CO and water with the sludge must be very large.
To eliminate the above-outlined problem, the present invention provides a method and means for concentrating reacting solids by coking ... to produce a concentrate which is then fed to a CO-water reactor. The solids are ... treated with carbon monoxide ... to form gases, solids and oil."
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Note: As is true with Coal, virtually any carbonaceous material can be hydrogenated by reactions that take place in a "CO-water reactor ... to form gases, solids and oil"
In any case, the above technology was seemingly based on earlier accomplishments by some of the same Texaco scientists, as documented by the following linked and excerpted, and similarly-titled:
"United States Patent 4,030,981 - Making Oil from Reactive Sludges and Slurries
Date: June, 1977
Inventors: Howard Hess, et. al., NY
Assignee: Texaco Incorporated
Abstract: Process for making low sulfur oil by reacting aqueous reactive sludges and slurries with hot, pressurized carbon monoxide and hydrogen ... .
Claims: A process for making low sulfur oil from an aqueous charge containing cellulose and other carbohydrates comprising coking said charge (and forming) an aqueous slurry containing coked solids; ... contacting the thus concentrated slurry with hot pressurized carbon monoxide ... to form a low sulfur oil, gases and carbon and inorganic solids and separating said oil from said carbon and inorganic solids and gases (and) wherein said charge consists of sewage sludge.
Background and Summary: This invention is concerned with a process for making low sulfur oil from sewage sludge.
The Bureau of Mines Report PB 203,669, entitled "Converting Organic Wastes to Oil", describes the reaction of carbon monoxide and water with various biological wastes containing cellulose, and other carbohydrates. These wastes include wood wastes (largely cellulose and liquid), sewage sludge and other urban wastes (mostly cellulose and other carbohydrates plus proteins and fats), and agricultural wastes such as cow manure. They have found that by reaction of these materials with CO and water a low sulfur oil can be produced.
While the present invention has been exemplified by reference to the treatment of sewage sludge, the same is not limited to such material but, rather, can be applied to the treatment of various restrictive sludges and slurries which contain cellulose, starches and related carbohydrates."
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Note that much, if not all, of the needed Hydrogen, for the hydrogenation reactions, though not that clearly stated, comes from entraining plain old H2O in the raw material feed, and the subsequent reactions it becomes involved in. Additional Hydrogen, as we have elsewhere documented, if needed for supplementing the reaction mix, can be made, along with, if the reactant proportions and reaction conditions are closely controlled, additional Carbon Monoxide, rather than co-product Carbon Dioxide, by passing Steam through red-hot Coal, according to the equation: H2O + C = H2 + CO.
However, if excess CO2 is co-produced, we can make all of the Carbon Monoxide we might ever want, for recycling all kinds of organics in this Texaco process, and in similar technologies as we have elsewhere documented, by passing that Carbon Dioxide, too, through red-hot Coal, as in: CO2 + C = 2CO.
Note that Carbon Monoxide is made in relative excess to the Hydrogen; but, additional Hydrogen is made available for hydrocarbon synthesis in these Texaco Carbon-recycling processes from the "cellulose, starches and related carbohydrates".
In any case, we can, as herein, recycle some pretty nasty sorts of Carbon via a technology developed, first and essentially, by the US Bureau of Mines, in order to more fully, and in an environmentally beneficial and positive way, utilize our vast resources of Coal.
