Coal Liquefaction

Coal Combustible black or brownish sediment rock Layer and layer of dead plant remain annually Largest source of energy for electricity worldwide

Utilizing Coal Steam power boats Generate electricity Liquefy into gasoline

Coal Power Plant 54% of U.S electricity generated from coal Yet, it’s the largest air polluter 500 megawatts=1.4 million tons of coal annually Coal plants require billions of gallons of water to cool the system Mining pollutes water, land and air

Why Liquefaction? Alternative to importing petroleum in China’s case because abundant coal supply Many different types of fuel like methanol, diesel, gasoline, H2 and dimethyl ether Fuel trucks, planes and other machines in where petroleum is limited

Methods Direct – Coal + Hydrogen (H2) Linear + Ring Type Hydrocarbons ( CxHy Catalyst ) Indirect – Gasification: Coal + Oxygen + Steam Syngas (H2 + CO) – Syngas Conversion: H2 + CO Linear Hydrocarbons (CxHy) or Chemicals

Direct Coal Liquefaction

Hydrogenation A chemical reaction that results in the addition of hydrogen (H2) Usually to reduce or saturated the organic compounds At high temperatures the addition of hydrogen to hydrocarbons does not require a catalyst Under 480 C the catalyst are platinum, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium

Carbonization Converting organic substance into carbon or residue by pryolysis (heating) Convert coal to coal gas or tar Also used to turn biomass to coal/ biodiesel

Indirect Coal Liquefaction

Gasification Combusting the substances and reacting them with CO and H, which forms syngas or synfuel Expose the coal with high heat with a controlled amount of O2; allows combustion Char reacts with CO2 and steam to make the syngas, but some of the CO2 is locked in char

Synfuel Production Sasol’s the only company producing 150,000 barrels per day in South Africa They use the indirect method to produce synfuel No engine modification is required

China’s Project Planned 5 million tons of oil product per year Demo about one million tons of oil Located Inner Mongolia Direct and Indirect methods of Liquefaction

Shenhua Group

Pro’s of Coal to Liquid U.S has more coal than any other country; almost as cheap as dirt Concept has been used since 1913 and during WWII with the Nazi New catalyst improve the process of liquefaction Make natural gas out of dirty coal

Great Point company Andrew Perlman showing how coal can be converted to natural gas.

Con’s of Coal to Liquid Air pollution, lots of CO2 is released in the making of synfuel Destroying mountains for coal pollutes the environment and release more CO2 Car’s will still produce CO2 from synfuel Expensive to transport coal and convert to liquid/useable fuel

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