As we have many times documented, one factor that is key to producing liquid hydrocarbon fuels from our abundant reserves of Coal is the efficient chemical addition of Hydrogen, to the primarily carbonaceous compounds that we can easily derive from Coal.
In a project that should have concluded and been reported precisely two months ago, the Morgantown, WV, National Energy Technology Laboratory of the United States Department of Energy was supposed to have finished addressing that issue.
Comments and questions follow excerpts from:
"Project ID: DE-FC26-06NT42449 - Production of High-Hydrogen Content Coal-Derived Liquids
Performer: Integrated Concepts & Research Corporation, Sterling Heights, MI
Responsible site: NETL
Fossil Energy Contact: Daniel Driscoll; (304) 285-4717; daniel.driscoll@netl.doe.gov
Start Date: 07/01/2005; End Date: 06/30/2010
Description: The objective of this project is to evaluate and compare intrinsic differences between cobalt (Co) and iron (Fe) catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis utilizing coal-derived synthesis gas. Specific parameters to be evaluated include: the effect of contaminants contained in coal-derived syngas on catalyst activity and lifetime, the required H2/CO ratios for efficient conversion, the required level of syngas cleanup to maintain catalyst reactivity and raw product upgrading requirements to produce high-hydrogen content coal-derived liquids.
Background: F-T plants that have used coal as their feedstock have virtually all used iron catalyst systems for F-T synthesis. When coal is gasified, it produces syngas that has a much lower hydrogen content than syngas obtained by reforming other hydrocarbons. For example, methane typically produces syngas with a H2/CO ratio of 2, or about double that typically obtained with coal. Iron F-T catalyst systems are generally considered to be much more tolerant of syngas with coal's low H2/CO ratios because the iron system can catalyze a significant amount of water-gas shift, and thus increase the effective H2/CO ratio at essentially the same time as it catalyzes F-T synthesis. This means that the raw F-T products synthesized from coal-derived syngas using iron catalysts need not be as deficient in hydrogen as might be implied by the initial H2/CO ratio of the syngas. Cobalt F-T catalyst systems need their incoming syngas to have a H2/CO ratio of about two to produce the highest quality products. If coal is the feedstock, the H2/CO ratio of the syngas must be increased for a cobalt catalyst system. This adds cost and complexity, but the cobalt catalyst system may (or may not) provide other advantages that more than compensate overall. This project provides the unique opportunity for combining and evaluating, in a single R&D project, real-world, in-depth studies of all the primary or core elements required for the integration of the full-range of F-T synthesis technologies (with both cobalt and iron catalyst systems) using coal-derived syngas. The work will provide a detailed comparison between cobalt and iron catalysts, evaluate the catalysts sensitivity to various contaminants and poisons, assess possible gas cleanup scenarios, and produce and test experimental quantities of coal-derived F-T liquid fuels.
Project Milestones: This information is currently unavailable."