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Assessment of Long-Term Research Needs for Coal-Liquefaction Technologies - March 1980

Penner, S. S.

University of California, San Diego

Section 1 is pages 1-80 and is 4.35MB.
Section 2 is pages 81-161 and is 3.77MB.
Section 3 is pages 162-247 and is 3.87MB.

Table of Contents

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ix
LIST OF TABLES

x
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

xi

 1

 OVERVIEW OF COAL-LIQUEFACTION TECHNOLOGIES, SUMMARY OF RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS 1
 

1.1

 Introduction 1

1.2

 Processing Steps in Direct Coal Liquefaction 2

1.3

 Indirect Coal Liquefaction (Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis) 4

1.4

 Other Coal-Liquefaction Processes 7

1.5

 Past, Current and Projected Unit Sizes of Direct Coal-Liquefaction Plants 7

1.6

 Comparisons of Direct and Indirect Coal Liquefaction 10

1.7

 Summary of Observations Derived from Site Visits 11

 2

RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS

 18
 

2.1

 Basic Research on Coal Structure and Chemistry 18

 

2.1.1

 Coal Characterization 18

2.1.2

 Coal Chemistry and Liquefaction 20

2.1.3

 Coal Pyrolysis 20

2.1.4

 Catalytic Effects on Pyrolysis 21

2.1.5

 Dissolution of Coal 21

2.1.6

 Reaction of Coal in a Solvent without Catalyst 21

2.1.7

 Catalytic Effects on Reactions of Coal in a Solvent 21

2.1.8

 Reactions of Coal in a Solvent with Hydrogen Gas 21

2.1.9

 Catalytic Effects on Reactions of Coal Solvent with Hydrogen Gas 21

2.1.10

 Reactions of Coal in a Donor Solvent with Hydrogen Gas 22

2.1.11

 Catalytic Effects on the Reactions of Coal in a Donor Solvent with Hydrogen Gas 22

2.1.12

 Role of Solvents 22

2.1.13

 Other Catalyst Research 22

2.1.14

 Stability of Coal Liquids 23

2.2

 The Role of Catalysis 23
 

2.2.1

 Introduction 23

2.2.2

 State of Knowledge on Catalytic Coal Liquefaction 23

2.2.3

 Research Needs 25

2.3

 Regressive Reactions 28
 

2.3.1

 Background for Research on Muck Phases 28

2.3.2

 Research Recommendations 34

2.4

 Separation Technologies 37
 

2.4.1

 Separation Technologies 37

2.4.2

 Coking 40

2.5

 Generation of Hydrogen and Fuel Gas from Residues 42
 

2.5.1

 Hydrogen-Generation Technologies 42

2.5.2

 Recommended Fundamental Studies 55

2.6

 Instrumentation and Control 56
 

2.6.1

 I&C for the SRC-II Process 56

2.6.2

 FERWG Recommendations on I&C 57

2.7

 Scaling and Modeling Liquefaction Unites 59
 

2.7.1

 Existing Technology 59

2.7.2

 Importance to Liquefaction 60

2.7.3

 State of Knowledge 60

2.7.4

 Long-Term Research Needs 61

2.7.5

 Opportunities for Research 61

2.8

 Down-Stream Refining of Coal-Derived Liquids 64
 

2.8.1

 Refining Technology for Coal-Derived Liquids 64

 3

 COAL PYROLYSIS 71
 

3.1

 Introduction 71

3.2

 Comments on Coal-Pyrolysis Technologies 71

3.3

 Summary of Research Needs in Pyrolysis 76

 4

COSTING OF COAL LIQUIDS

 78
APPENDICES

 A

 FERWG-II STATEMENT OF WORK AA-1

 B

 MEMBERS OF FERWG-II AB-1

 C

 SELECTED REPORTS OF SITE VISITS, CONFERENCES AND DISCUSSIONS AC-i

AC-1.1

Report of Site Visit to the SRC Facilities at Ft. Lewis, Washington

 AC-1

AC-1.2

 Report of Site Visit to the Gulf Oil Research Laboratory, Harmarville, Pennsylvania AC-13

AC-2.0

 Report of FERWG Site Visit to Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Baytown Research and Development Division, Baytown, Texas AC-31

AC-3.0

 Report on FERWG Site Visit to Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., Lawrenceville, New Jersey AC-42

AC-4.0

 Site Visit to the Conoco Process Development Unit (PDU) for Coal Liquefaction Using ZnCl2 AC-56

AC-5.0

 Comments on the Dow Coal-Liquefaction Program AC-69

AC-6.0

 Comments on Nuclear Process-Heat Commercialization Study, General Atomic Company, San Diego, California AC-73

AC-7.0

 Research at the Central Research Department of the Mobil Research and Development Company, Mobil's Methanol-to-Gasoline Conversion Process, Paulsboro, New Jersey AC-75

AC-8.1

 Report on Discussions with Staff Members of the Exxon Corporation, Princetown, New Jersey AC-85

AC-8.2

 Report of a Visit to the Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology AC-87

AC-8.3

 Report on the EPRI Coal-Liquefaction Review AC-92

AC-8.3A

 Overall Impressions of the EPRI Conference on Coal Liquefaction AC-95

AC-8.3B

 Comments on EPRI Coal Liquefaction Contractors Conference AC-96

AC-8.4

 Conference on University Coal Liquefaction Contract Research AC-100

AC-8.5A

 Report of Site Visit to the Lawrence Berkley Laboratory AC-109

AC-8.5B

 Report of Site Visit to the Lawrence Berkley Laboratory and University of California, Berkley AC-111