TITLE: Novel Experimental Studies for Coal Liquefaction: Quarterly Progress Report, January 1, 1987 to March 31, 1987.

AUTHOR: G. D. Holder;   Y. T. Shah;   J. W. Tierney.

INST.  AUTHOR: Pittsburgh Univ., PA.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  1987,  55p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE87010078/INW

ABSTRACT:

Work during the quarter was devoted primarily to investigating the kinetics of the two-step process for conversion of synthesis gas to methanol. The synthesis consists of two sequential reactions. The first is the carbonylation of methanol to methyl formate and the second is the hydrogenation of methyl formate to two molecules of methanol, thus regenerating the methanol used in the carbonylation step and producing one molecule of product. The reactions can be carried out separately or they can occur simultaneously in the same reactor. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Supercritical fluid extraction is an attractive process primarily because the density and solvent power of a fluid changes dramatically with pressure at near critical conditions, and during the extraction of coal, the density of a supercritical fluid should also change the extractability of the coal. During earlier quarters a non-reacting supercritical fluid, toluene, was studied to determine the effect of density on the coal extraction/reaction process. Extractions were carried out for 2 to 60 minutes at reduced densities between 0.5 and 2.0 and at temperatures between 647 and 698 K. The data obtained can be explained by the hypothesis that coal dissolution is required preceding liquefaction reactions and that the degree of dissolution depends upon solvent density and temperature. A kinetic model shows that higher solvent densities result in faster conversion rates and in higher total conversions. A second factor that makes supercritical extraction attractive is high mass transfer rates. At high pressures, mass transfer rates in a supercritical fluid are much higher than in a liquid, despite the fact that the supercritical fluid has liquid-like solvent powers. (ERA citation 12:032454)

REPORT  NUMBER: DOE/PC/71257-T10

CONTRACT  NUMBER: FG22-84PC71257