We've previously documented that alcohols, "oxygenated hydrocarbons", such as Methanol and Ethanol, can, aside from being used directly as liquid fuels, be efficiently converted into Gasoline. They can also serve as the raw materials, substituting for petroleum products, in the manufacture of some valuable organic chemical products, such as certain plastics.
We've also documented that both Methanol and Ethanol can be efficiently synthesized from Coal, and we submit herein more confirmation of that fact.
Brief comment follows excerpts from:
"United States Patent 4,492,772 - Production of Oxygenated Hydrocarbons (from) Synthesis Gas
Date: January, 1985
Inventor: William Ball, et. al., Great Britain
Assignee: The British Petroleum Company, London
Abstract: An oxygenated hydrocarbon product comprising methanol and ethanol is produced by hydrogenating carbon monoxide at a temperature in the range 150 to 450 C and a pressure in the range 1 to 700 bars in the presence as catalyst of a supported mixture of the metals rhodium, silver, zirconium and molybdenum and optionally also one or more of the metals iron, manganese, rhenium, tungsten, ruthenium, chromium, thorium and potassium. The preferred support is silica.
Description: The present invention relates generally to the production of oxygenated hydrocarbons and in particular to a process for the production of an oxygenated hydrocarbon product comprising methanol and ethanol by the catalytic conversion of carbon monoxide and hydrogen mixtures, hereinafter to be referred to as synthesis gas.
Alcohols are gaining increasing importance as gasoline supplements and automotive fuels. In some countries there are plans for satisfying the increased demand by fermentation of natural products, e.g. molasses and beet, but worldwide there is a growing recognition of the need for an inexpensive mixed alcohols process. Potentially the catalytic conversion of synthesis gas offers just such a process. Synthesis gas can readily be obtained not only from crude oil but also from coal and methane gas which is potentially available in vast quantities.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for the production of an oxygenated hydrocarbon product comprising methanol and ethanol which process comprises contacting synthesis gas ... with a catalyst comprising a supported mixture of the metals rhodium, silver, zirconium and molybdenum.
Mixtures of the gases hydrogen and carbon monoxide are abundantly available in the form of synthesis gas. Methods for preparing synthesis gas are well-known in the art and usually involve the partial oxidation of a carbonaceous substance, e.g. coal.
As hereinbefore mentioned oxygenated hydrocarbons such as mixtures of alcohols are useful both as automotive fuels and as automotive fuel supplements."
----------
As we've many times reported, not only can alcohols, such as Methanol and Ethanol, serve as automotive fuels themselves, they can be converted efficiently into Gasoline.
And, those alcohols can, as herein, be made from synthesis gas, which, again, "can readily be obtained ... from ... coal ... in vast quantities."
