We have previously documented the achievements of Nobel Laureate George Olah, and colleagues, at the University of Southern California, in the field of Carbon conversion technology, especially with regards to the productive recycling of Carbon Dioxide.
Since we have been lately documenting Coal conversion technologies, as in our report this day concerning "US Patent 4,292,048 - Integrated Catalytic Coal ... Steam Gasification Process; 1981; Exxon Research and Engineering", wherein both liquid hydrocarbons and Methane can be co-produced from Coal, but with some co-production of Carbon Dioxide, we wanted to confirm yet again, as in our earlier reports of "US Patent 3,959, 094 - Synthesis of Methanol from Carbon Dioxide" and "US Patent 4,609,441 - Electrochemical Reduction of Aqueous Carbon Dioxide to Methanol" that Carbon Dioxide can be made to react with Methane and/or Water, and thus to form, either directly, via processes of water solution electrolysis, or indirectly, via generation of a synthesis gas suitable for catalytic condensation into a variety of liquid fuels, Methanol.
In the document we enclose herein, via the enclosed link and attached file, we find, from George Olah and his USC colleagues, a rather complete exposition of the various Carbon Dioxide recycling reactions and processes that are available to us, including a fuller description of the "tri-reforming" process, which we have frequently referred to relative to developments made on the technology by scientists at Penn State University, and versions of which have, as we've documented for the West Virginia Coal Association, been patented by various other entities.
In that system, Carbon Dioxide is reformed in combination with both Methane and Steam to form a synthesis gas that can then be catalytically condensed into, among other choices, Methanol.
Summary comment follows very brief excerpts from the extended dissertation of:
"Chemical Recycling of Carbon Dioxide
Journal of the American Chemical Society; January, 2009
George Olah, et. al., University of Southern California
Abstract: (Chemical) recycling of carbon dioxide from natural and industrial sources ... to methanol and dimethyl ether and their varied products can be achieved ... .
Improved new methods for the reductive conversion of CO2 to methanol ... that we have developed include bireforming with methane ... .
Carbon dioxide thus can be chemically transformed from a detrimental greenhouse gas ... into a valuable, renewable and inexhaustible carbon source ... allowing environmentally neutral use of carbon fuels ... ."
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Olah does discuss tri-reforming of Carbon Dioxide, as we noted above, in the full body of the text.
But, again, in light of our separate report of "US Patent 4,292,048", also as above, wherein both liquid hydrocarbons and Methane are generated from Coal, along with some Carbon Dioxide, we wanted to again affirm that the CO2 can be reclaimed, and then reacted, bi-reformed, with some of the Methane that is co-produced, in order to effect "the reductive conversion of CO2 to methanol".
