Univ. of Kentucky & H-Coal

 
Center for Applied Energy Research - 1980s

Herein some excerpts from the University of Kentucky's history of their energy research: 

1980 - Catlettsburg's H-Coal direct liquefaction facility, the largest ever built in the U.S., began operations. The Commonwealth contributed funds for the design and construction of this coal liquefaction plant; purchased options for the plant site; and conducted research at the laboratory on conversion of Kentucky coals. Engineering design and site acquisition for a commercial plant to employ indirect liquefaction technology utilized in South Africa to produce motor fuels also began.

(So, at the time, Kentucky was moving forward with coal conversion on two fronts: H-Coal development and Sasol's well-established commercial technology. What happened with Sasol?)

1984 - The Center's synfuels research capabilities were improved by installation of the Prototype Integrated Process Unit. This was a 10 pound per hour pilot-scale continuous-flow direct coal liquefaction mini-plant.

1986 - The United States synfuels demonstration program ended with the abolishment of the Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Kentucky's projects were also discontinued.

(Who was in control of the White House in 1986? Well ... he was a red-haired Republican, and the Secretary of Energy was one John Harrington, an attorney with no known energy or science expertise, who had been one of the President's personal assistants for White House personnel issues. In case you were wondering.)

1992 to 2002 - The CAER conducted research related to Advanced Concepts for Coal Liquefaction, sponsored by the US DOE. The first phase evaluated process concepts to effect reductions in the cost of producing coal liquids in a two-stage direct liquefaction process. The project was later extended to the production of potential value-added materials from coal liquids. The project's total value with extensions was nearly $8 million (sponsor and matching).

We have noted many times the potential for "value-added materials from coal liquids". Those "value-added materials" are primarily what the Chinese are after in their assertive CTL industrialization program. Liquid fuel seems to be more of a secondary consideration for them, according to their public statements.

Finally, where is the final report, with all the collected data, and what were it's conclusions?

Japan and the NEDOL Process

 
Mike,
 
We've been attempting to uncover some technical details about Japan's "NEDOL" process for the liquefaction of coal. There isn't much yet revealed by the public literature except, like West Virginia University's "West Virginia Process" for coal conversion, it is a "direct" liquefaction technology, as opposed to "indirect' coal-to-liquid conversion processes, such as Fischer-Tropsch.
 
One important point to make note of regarding this submission is that, like the United States, Japan had/has at least one coal-to-liquid conversion plant, even though "just" a pilot, in operation after WWII, when their coal-to-liquid fuel conversion plant at Kobe, because of it's value, became, as we've documented from US military records, a strategic target of Allied bombing attacks.
 
The excerpt: 

Document title

Steady-state thermal behavior of coal liquefaction reactors based on NEDOL process

Author(s)

ONOZAKI M.; NAMIKI Y. ; ISHIBASHI H.; TAKAGI T.; KOBAYASHI M.; MOROOKA S. 

Affiliation(s)

Nippon Coal Oil Co., Ltd., KS Bldg 2, Sanban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0075, JAPON
Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, JAPON

Abstract

The direct coal liquefaction plant at Kashima, Japan, was equipped with three reactors, each of which was 1 m in diameter and 11.8 m in length, connected in series. This plant was designed on the basis of the concept of the NEDOL Process, and processed 150 tons of coal per day. The steady-state behavior of the reactors was simulated using an axial dispersion model which took into consideration the liquefaction reactions and the evaporation of oil to the gas phase. The model was validated from axial temperature profiles as well as coal conversion and hydrogen consumption data, obtained from the actual operation of the reactors. The heat of reaction, estimated from the heat balance between the inlet and outlet streams in each reactor, was determined to be 2.1 MJ per 1 m3 (STP) of hydrogen consumed. The axial dispersion coefficient of the slurry phase was estimated to be 0.03-0.04 m2/s at a superficial gas velocity of 0.06 m/s. The axial dispersion coefficient was smaller and the gas holdup was larger than values reported in previous studies."
 
As with some of the US CTL projects we've documented, quite serious, very focused and detailed research into the coal conversion process was going on at Kashima. What has happened to all the data? What were the conclusions? What else is planned?
 

CTL Products - KY & AL


We're sending this report along to confirm, if more confirmation was needed, that our USDOE did have at least two coal-to-liquid plants up and running in the fairly recent past - in addition to the ones founded by various entities in the 40's and early 50's, which used captured German technology, and the Ohio Valley Synfuels plant in the 1970's.
 
There doesn't appear to be anything too revelatory in this entry, represented by the abstract below. In sum, two different processes for converting coal into liquid fuels work, and either way you go about it you'll get similar hydrocarbon liquids.
 
Of course, we're not getting any of those now, but...

"Curt M. White, Mildred B. Perry, Charles E. Schmidt, Nasrin Behmanesh and David T. Allen

Division of Coal Science, US Department of Energy, Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, PO Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 09924, USA


Received 15 January 1987; 
revised 11 May 1987. 
Available online 11 August 2003.

Abstract

Coal liquefaction products from the H-coal (Kentucky) and the Wilsonville (Alabama) Integrated two-stage liquefaction processes were separated into narrow-boiling distillates. The Wilsonville product was from the first stage. Information resulting from elemental analysis, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H n.m.r.), low-voltage, highresolution mass spectrometery (LVHRMS), infrared spectroscopy (i.r.) and open-column preparative liquid chromatography were obtained for each distillate. The analytical data were used to estimate the concentrations of the major functional groups in the distillates. The results indicated that the structure and functionality of the molecular constituents of the two sets of distillates boiling in the same temperature range were similar. Structural differences appear to be primarily related to the concentrations of alkylated aromatics and saturates."

It's real, and we've known how to do it for a long time. Why haven't we been told?

Muhlenberg County a First for Coal-to-Diesel Production

"WBKO TV News - July 29, 2009

It's a first for not only Kentucky, but the entire United States.

Muhlenberg County has been selected to be a location for the first coal-to-diesel production plant in the country."

Muhlenberg County a First for Coal-to-Diesel Production

WBKO TV News - July 29, 2009

It's a first for not only Kentucky, but the entire United States.

Muhlenberg County has been selected to be a location for the first coal-to-diesel production plant in the country.



Korea and WVCoal News


If you do recall our earlier report, we corrected one error in the article. The story we forwarded referred to this pending coal conversion plant as a "first" for Korea. It won't be. The Japanese were converting coal into liquid fuels there during their occupation of that country during WWII, according to Japanese and US military reports we've sent you.
 
We believe the following transcription to be accurate. We regret our current inability to link directly to the article for you. Additional comment follows:
 
"SK Energy, South Korea's largest oil refiner by output, is teaming with domestic steel maker Pohang Iron and Steel Co (Posco) to develop "clean coal" technologies at a total cost of 3.35 trillion won (US$2.6bn, £1.6bn).

The two companies have signed a deal to jointly develop a manufacturing process for synthetic natural gas, according to an announcement at the weekend by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The ministry, which regulates economic policy in the industrial and energy sectors, said the two companies' planned facilities would help improve the country's energy security while reducing carbon emissions.

Posco will invest 1 trillion won to build a synthetic natural gas plant in Gwangyang, southwest of Seoul, with an expected annual output of 500,000 tonnes of gas. Posco estimates that its products will replace annual imports of 200bn won of liquefied natural gas.
 
(We would like to see an economist analyze these numbers. A 1 trillion won-or-whatever investment wouldn't be paid off in 5 years with a 200 billion annual return - there are operating costs & etc. But, that 200bn return would all be circulated within the Korean domestic economy, and it would stop a 200bn leak from that economy to the outside world. Sounds like, at least, a total 400bn/yr won win-win.)

The firms will also work on the production of controversial coal-based oil, known as synthetic crude, through a coal-to-liquid process that would extract materials needed to make chemical products.

SK Energy will spend 1.8 trillion won to build a plant capable of producing 6.3 million barrels of artificial crude oil annually. It would be equal to about 2.5 per cent of the nation's fuel demand for transportation in 2008.

The company has a further 550bn won earmarked for the manufacture of 200,000 tonnes of coal-based industrial chemicals, including methanol and hydrogen.

Coal-to-liquid processes have been widely criticised by green groups, who argue that in many cases they are even more carbon intensive than petroleum.

The federal government will provide funding of 25 billion won towards research and development for the initiatives. It believes that the domestic cultivation of clean coal and synthetic gas technologies, which could be licensed abroad, would help South Korea enter the global energy market in the future.

Earlier this month, South Korea announced details of its $85bn plan to develop eco-friendly industries. The initiative is aimed at creating a green "growth engine" for the nation’s ailing economy."
 
All of that is great, of course, excepting for the fact that it's South Korea, not West Virginia. And, we'll remind you of another earlier dispatch, in which we reported that the Koreans are working on the full utilization of coal-based resources, including Carbon Dioxide. In brief, we remind you of:
 
"Promotion of CO2 Hydrogenation in Fixed Bed Recycle Reactors 
M.J. Choi, J.S. Kim, S.B. Lee, W.Y. Lee and K.W. Lee
ENR Team, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Taejon 305-600, Korea
 

Summary

One of the promising technologies for the utilization of CO2 is the selective synthesis of valuable chemicals by means of catalytic hydrogenation. A catalytic fixed bed recycle reactor and series reactors have been proposed to increase the level of reaction conversion in conducting the hydrogenation of CO2. The hydrogenation of CO2 was carried out over Fe-K based catalyst. The conversion of carbon dioxide  increased with increasing reaction temperature and residence time in the fixed bed single reactor. ...  CO2 (hydrogenation) increased with increasing recycle ratio ... For the olefin rich production, maximum  (CO2) was the level of 75% in the recycle reactor, however paraffin selectivity was increased when the (CO2) was above 80%. From the results of experiments, the recycle reactor as an alternative reactor was beneficial ...for the hydrogenation of CO2 instead of the fixed bed single reactor."

So, we could infer that the Koreans are working on the complete package of a sustainable, closed-circle, coal-based liquid fuel economy.

And, finally, to repeat a portion of the initial excerpt:

"The federal government will provide funding of 25 billion won towards research and development for the initiatives. It believes that the domestic cultivation of clean coal and synthetic gas technologies, which could be licensed abroad, would help South Korea enter the global energy market ...".

West Virginia University has the West Virginia Process for converting coal into liquid fuels, and has been working with China in that nation's ambitious coal-to-liquid industrialization, as we've documented.  If we could get a domestic coal-to-liquid refinery of our own up and running, and follow that with a CO2 recycling project, wouldn't it then be great if our Mountain State could publicly proclaim it's intent to "enter the global energy market"?