Low-rank Coal with Biomass to Liquids


We submit the following technical papers, from researchers in Turkey, in further support of our contention that cellulose - biomass - can be converted, with coal, at the same time, to liquid fuels in a properly-specified and designed coal-to-liquid conversion facility.
 
Moreover, the coal used in these evaluations was a low-grade, high-ash Turkish lignite that would not have the higher carbon and Btu values of typical West Virginia bituminous. It would not convert as efficiently to liquid fuels and chemicals.
 
We submit the reports of this work to further support two of our earlier-stated contentions:
 
First, it is practical to consider using cellulose - waste from fast-growing trees, "woody" weeds and some algae - as another raw material which could be mixed with coal and converted into much-needed liquid fuels.
 
Using cellulose in such a fashion, especially cellulose from fast-growing trees and other plants, perhaps genetically engineered to maximize cellulose production and cultivated in bio-reactors or commercial forest and bio-plantations, could well provide another practical route, in addition to the direct capture and reduction processes previously documented, to the practical recycling of Carbon Dioxide generated by coal-use, and other processes.
 
Carbon Dioxide could be captured and profitably converted into additional liquid fuels, and other valuable products.
 
Second, it is feasible to convert low-grade coal, in this case lignite, into liquid fuel. And, the same processes, as we have proposed as possible, and as supported by Joe's 1970's WVU research into the recoverable organic content of coal mine wastes, and by the proposed Schuykill, PA, coal waste-to-liquid fuel facility, could be used to "clean up" coal mine waste accumulations, as are found in WV and other Appalachian coal-mining regions.
 
Coal-to-Liquid conversion technology could help improve the environment by "recycling" Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere into more liquid fuels, and by enabling industrial processes which could, in a profitable way, clean up waste accumulations left behind by prior coal mining activity.
 
We're not enclosing links in this dispatch, since there would be several and the transmission process would be impractical. 
 
The references are as follows, and they are easily accessible via Internet search:
 
"Coprocessing of a Turkish lignite with a cellulosic waste material: 1. The effect of coprocessing on liquefaction yields at different reaction temperatures

Fatma Karaca and Esen Bola

Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Chemical Engineering Department, YImage ldImage z Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

In recent years, the liquefaction potential of waste materials has been investigated to increase the yield of coal conversion processes and the quality of liquid fuels from coal. The results have shown that the coprocessing of coal with biowaste materials increases liquefaction yields. In this study, the effects of liquefaction of Soma lignite with sawdust as a coprocessing agent, on total conversion, oil+gas total yields, asphaltene yields and preasphaltene yields were investigated at five different temperatures, 300, 325, 350, 375 and 400°C, 40 atm initial cold pressure, 1/1 (wt/wt) sawdust/lignite ratio and 3/1 (vol/wt) tetralin/(lignite+sawdust) ratio values.

 
Coprocessing of a Turkish lignite with a cellulosic waste material: 2. The effect of coprocessing on liquefaction yields at different reaction pressures and sawdust/lignite ratios
 
Fatma Karaca and Esen Bolat

Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Chemical Engineering Department, Yıldız Technical University, Davutpasa-Esenler, Image stanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Most of the research works done for alternative energy sources have shown that, in general, coprocessing of coal with biomass-type wastes has a positive effect on the liquefaction yields and these materials are increasingly studied as coliquefaction agents for the conversion of coal to liquid fuels. Addition of biomass waste materials to coal is known to be synergetic in that it improves the yields and quality of liquid products produced from coal under relatively mild conditions of temperature and pressure. This paper reports the coprocessing of a Turkish lignite with sawdust in the category of biomass-type waste material. The experiments have been conducted in a stainless-steel reactor, and temperature and tetralin/(lignite+sawdust) ratio were kept constant at 350 °C and 3:1 (vol/wt), respectively. This is the first time that the influence of reaction pressures on coliquefaction yields was investigated. In addition, the influence of the sawdust/lignite ratios on coprocessing conversion and product distribution was also investigated under the same reaction conditions. The runs were carried out at 10, 25, 40, 55, and 70 atm initial cold hydrogen pressure values and at 0.5:1, 0.75:1, 1:1, 1.25:1, and 1.5:1 sawdust/lignite (wt/wt) ratio values.

 

Coprocessing of a Turkish lignite with a cellulosic waste material: 3. A statistical study on product yields and total conversion

Fatma Karaca, Esen Bola and Salih Dincer

Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Chemical Engineering Department, Yıldız Technical University, Davutpa-Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to evaluate statistically the effects of coprocessing parameters on liquefaction yields, to determine the key process variables affecting the oil+gas, oil and asphaltene yields and total conversion. A statistical experimental design based on Second Order Central Composite Desing was planned fixing the liquefaction period at 1 h. Parameters such as temperature, initial cold pressure, tetralin/(lignite+sawdust) and sawdust/lignite ratios coded as x1, x2, x3 and x4, respectively, were used. The parameters were investigated at five levels (−2, −1, 0, 1 and 2). The effects of these factors on dependent variables, namely, oil+gas, oil and asphaltene yields and total conversion were investigated. To determine the significance of effects, the analysis of variance with 99.9% confidence limits was used. It was shown that within the experimental ranges examined, temperature and sawdust/lignite ratio were the variables of highest significance for oil+gas yields, oil yields and total conversion."