West Virginia can now start to think about helping Kentucky out in a big way, relative to the process we report in this dispatch, wherein a former oil industry player, still headquartered in Kentucky, is seen to have developed an innovative and non-polluting way in which Coal, Carbon Dioxide and Water can all be converted, together, into a blend of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen, i.e., a "synthesis gas" ideally suited for catalytic conversion, as via, for one example, the Fischer-Tropsch process, into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.
We won't dwell on the Fischer-Tropsch process, or the many variants of the technology which are all usually lumped generically together under that title. Suffice it to say that it is a method, using a wide variety of catalysts and operating conditions, of chemically condensing a blend of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen gases into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons.
It is an old technology well-understood, and practiced, by the petroleum industry, who have developed many refinements of it, such as Shell Oil's "Middle Distillate Synthesis", or "MDS" technology we long ago described and documented in relation to Coal liquefaction.
And, we'll explain how West Virginia might be getting in a position to help out in Kentucky's technology for generating that raw material synthesis gas, "syngas", for the Fischer-Tropsch process, via a separate link further on in this dispatch.
In any case, we see herein that a way has been developed in which Coal, Carbon Dioxide and Water can all be processed, but not reacted, together, and be made to form such a synthesis gas; a way that doesn't, like nearly all of the previously-described Coal conversion methods, involve a partial oxidation of the basic Coal feed to generate both the energy and the Carbon Monoxide needed by the Fischer-Tropsch technologies, to synthesize various hydrocarbons.
We note, as well, that, unlike those traditional, partial-oxidation methods of generating synthesis gas, much less of the energy potential of the Coal is lost; and, no additional CO2 is produced.
Comment, and the link related to how West Virginia might, in addition to supplying Coal, in the future be able to help out, follow excerpts from the initial link, above, to:
"United States Patent 5,645,615 - Molten Decomposition Apparatus and Process
Date: July, 1997
Inventors: Donald Malone, et. al., KY and OH
Assignee: Ashland, Incorporated, KY
Abstract: In an improved molten metal hydrogen generation bath, baffles form a draft tube or chimney-effect near the center of the bath. Flow through the chimney is aided by maintaining a temperature differential favoring convection and, optionally, a differential pressure between the portions of the bath on either side of the baffle-chimney arrangement. Feed is added to the feed zone and oxygen is added to the oxidation zone, emitting H2 from the feed zone and CO from the oxidation zone. Baffles may be made simply of brick work or high temperature metal and can fit into existing refractory-lined molten metal vessels. Products can be mixed as syngas feed for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
Claims: (A) process for decomposing carbon- and hydrogen-containing feed materials in a molten metal bath comprising: injecting said carbon- and hydrogen-containing feed materials into said molten bath, dissolving a portion of said carbon in said metal bath, creating a carbon monoxide stream comprising CO from said dissolved carbon, (and) injecting at least (some) CO2 into said molten metal at a point where said molten metal contains substantial quantities of dissolved carbon, whereby said dissolved carbon reacts with said CO2 to form approximately two moles of CO for each mole of CO2,
(In other words, the reaction we have previously, in other reports, explained and described takes place, which may be summarized as: CO2 + C = 2CO. And, we must note that Ashland actually proposes only recycling whatever CO2 might be incidentally produced in the system back into the molten metal bath, for reaction with the dissolved Coal. Obviously, though, greater potentials exist.)
(And) wherein the molten metal bath comprises iron ... .
Background and Field: The present invention relates to the general field of molten baths for the disassociation of material containing carbon, and preferably hydrogen as well.
The present invention is useful for the production of a wide variety of end-products, including all those which can be produced by the well-known Fischer-Tropsch process, e.g., naphthas, diesel fuel, jet fuel (kerosene), as particularly commercialized by Sasol in South Africa.
Natural gas (specified to be, primarily, CH4, Methane), trash garbage, tires, coal and virtually any other hydrocarbon-containing material (can be utilized).
In its preferred embodiments, the invention functions entirely from (such) hydrocarbons, air (for oxidation), and water (to supply hydrogen ...).
Products are CO, CO2, H2 plus sulfur and other contaminants in feed which may be outputted in slag which can be periodically drained off. In refineries, sulfur is preferably outputted as gas in the hydrogen stream and is then treated conventionally by the Claus process ... .
(One specified) reaction ... reacts injected CO2 with carbon in the molten metal to form 2CO and cool the melt as desired.
(Any co-produced CO2 is, thus, directed to be recycled back into the molten metal bath for conversion, via reaction with the dissolved Coal, i.e., "carbon", into additional Carbon Monoxide, "CO". The same reaction works for any Carbon Dioxide imported from outside the system, as well.)
Wide ranges of feed rate, feed composition, and contaminants can be accommodated, even wide swings over short time intervals.
The present invention is useful for the production of a wide variety of end-products, including all those which can be produced by the well-known Fischer-Tropsch process, (such as) naphthas, diesel fuel, jet fuel (kerosene), as particularly commercialized by Sasol in South Africa.
At the present time, the invention will be particularly valuable for the flexible production of reformulated fuels as mandated or as desirable for protection of the environment."
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First of all, the "Ashland, Incorporated" assignee of the rights to this invention is the remnant of the old Kentucky-grown Ashland Oil company, which many Coal Country old timers will remember.
As seen in: Ashland Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; Ashland was founded in 1924 as Ashland Refining Company, of Ashland, Kentucky. Then, much later, in 2005, after selling off many of it's oil industry assets and having formed a joint venture, "Marathon Ashland Petroleum", with Marathon Oil, Ashland finally sold it's remaining interests in that joint venture to Marathon, and dissolved what was left of their petroleum division. Subsequently, "the company was no longer involved in the refining or marketing of fuels".
In any case, returning to the technicalities, we can, thus, via the process of United States Patent 5,645,615, enable "protection of the environment" by making such things as "diesel fuel, jet fuel" and Gasoline blending stock out of "trash, garbage, tires, coaland" Carbon Dioxide.
Sound pretty good?
It might get better.
Recall that, in our introductory comments, we said that: "West Virginia can now start to think about helping Kentucky out in a big way" with such Coal-conversion and Carbon-recycling technology, as disclosed by Ashland's USP 5,645,615.
Further, note that a "molten metal" preferably "iron" bath is specified for all of the necessary reactions to take place in, and to be facilitated by.
It takes a lot of energy, in the form of plain old heat, to melt Iron and keep it melted, especially while it's doing the work of converting Coal, waste Carbon, CO2 and H2O into hydrocarbon synthesis gas.
And, rather that fritter away our increasingly-precious Coal, or generate any more CO2 than we have to, to get that Iron melted, there might be a far better way, a way which our environmentally-concerned brethren might actually bless with approval.
It's recently been determined that West Virginia is sitting on yet another reserve of energy that could last thousands of years; and, no, it ain't the journalist-intoxicating Marcellus Shale gas - which our reporters really should stop sniffing so much of.
It is, we think, killing their brain cells.
Following, with some comment appended, is explanation of the rather vast resource, a "bonanza" of "geothermal" energy, that is now accessible to West Virginia, and other parts of Appalachia:
West Virginia Geothermal Maps: Another Energy Bonanza for WV?
"West Virginia Geothermal: A Large Green Energy Source Beneath Northeastern West Virginia
October, 2010; by Southern Methodist University
Hot Enough for Baseload Geothermal Energy: New research produced by Southern Methodist University's Geothermal Laboratory ... suggests that the temperature of the Earth beneath the state of West Virginia is significantly higher than previously estimated and capable of supporting commercial baseload geothermal energy production.
Geothermal energy is the use of the Earth's heat to produce ... electricity.
The SMU Geothermal Laboratory has increased its estimate of West Virginia's geothermal generation potential to 18,890 megawatts, assuming a conservative 2 percent thermal recovery rate."
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That very "conservative" estimate of electric power potential is on a per-year basis; and, get this, it is more electricity than West Virginia now produces, per year, from Coal.
More than that, it is virtually limitless and Carbon-free.
And, we would only need a relatively little bit of that virtually limitless, geothermally-