As in, for just one example, our recent dispatch, now posted on the West Virginia Coal Association's web site as:Princeton Recycles CO2 with US Government Support | Research & Development | News; we have previously documented the fact that Carbon Dioxide can be productively reclaimed, and then recycled in the synthesis of various useful materials, including, among others, as in the Princeton technology, Formic Acid.
Herein, in confirmation of one or two other of our earlier reports, we wanted to again confirm that such Formic Acid, aside from it's other uses, such as in fuel cell batteries, can be utilized as a Hydrogen donor, or Hydrogen transfer agent, in the hydrogenation and liquefaction of Coal.
Comment follows somewhat abbreviated excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to the simply-titled:
"United States Patent 4,313,852 - Catalysts
Date: February, 1982
Inventors: Derek Gavin and Michael Jones, UK
Assignee: Coal Industry Limited, London
Abstract: A hydrotreating catalyst which is resistant to carbonaceous deposits and is particularly useful for hydrotreating coal-derived liquids, is molybdenum or tungsten disulphide ... . The catalyst can be made by absorbing molybdenum or tungsten trisulphide onto the active carbon support and reducing the trisulphide to the disulphide.
Claims: A hydrotreatment catalyst comprising molybdenum or tungsten disulphide ... .
(And, a) method of producing (the) catalyst comprising molybdenum or tungsten disulphide (by) absorbing molybdenum or tungsten trisulphide onto an active carbon support ... and reducing the trisulphide to the disulphide.
(And) wherein the reduction is effected using ... formic acid (or) sodium formate ... .
Description and Summary: This invention concerns hydrotreating catalysts, more especially it concerns catalysts suitable for use in the hydrogenation and/or hydrocracking of coal-derived materials such as coal extracts or coal-oil slurries.
Precious metal or nickel catalysts are commonly used for hydrogenation reactions but suffer the drawback of being readily poisoned by sulphur-containing compounds. Coal-derived materials in particular contain significant amounts of sulphur-containing compounds.
In the current interest by hydrotreating coal-derived materials for the synthesis of chemical feedstocks and fuels, the greatest interest has been in catalysts based on molybdenum or tungsten sulphides promoted by cobalt or nickel sulphides, and several are commercially available as petroleum hydrotreating catalysts.
The catalysts according to the invention are active hydrotreating catalysts and are especially suitable for use in the hydrotreating of coal-derived materials."
------------------
The full Disclosure is, unfortunately, rather immensely complex.
Further, though not reflected in our excerpts, plain old Water is also to be included in the blend of reactants.
Our take on the whole thing is that Formic Acid, as can be synthesized, via the Princeton University technology cited above, from Carbon Dioxide, and/or some of its derivative compounds, facilitates the transfer of Hydrogen atoms from Water, through the chemical reduction of Molybdenum and Tungsten Sulfides, to the "coal-derived liquids"; with the end result being, as specified, "the synthesis of chemical feedstocks and fuels".