Task 4.0 -- Advanced fuel forms and co-products. Semi-Annual report, April 1--June 30, 1993

• Main Authors: Anderson, C. M., Musich, M. A., Young, B. C., Timpe, R. C., Olson, E. S., Sharma, R. K.
• Other Authors: United States. Department of Energy.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Dakota. Energy and Environmental Research Center. 1993
• Subjects: Research Programs; 01 Coal; Lignite; And Peat; Desulfurization; Progress Report; Deashing; Water Removal; Coal Rank; Coal; Coal Preparation; Carbon Monoxide; Pyrolysis; Materials Testing; Process Solutions; Preparation; Coal Liquefaction; Hot Gas Cleanup; Experimental Data 010300; Purification And Upgrading; Hydrogenation And Liquefaction; Dissolution; 010402; Pyrolysis And Carbonization; 010405; 010409; Performance Testing; Carbonic acid
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2172/10126157; https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1273876/

Summarized below is the work carried out over a six-month period on the subtasks Beneficiation for Advanced Systems, Co-Products, and Low-Rank Coal Liquefaction. Hydrothermal drying (hot-water drying and saturated-steam drying) was determined to be an effective method of causing a permanent reduction in the equilibrium moisture of low-rank coals and removing sodium. The development of improved methods is continuing for assessing the propensity of coals to dust generation. Carbonic acid treatment of lignites and subbituminous coals reduced the sodium contents of these coals by 60 to 70 wt%. Float/sink washability testing of low-sulfur subbituminous coals produced ash reductions of 30 to 40 wt% at +95 wt% moisture and ash-free (maf) coal recovery. Ineffective agglomerants were induced to agglomerate low-rank coals by mixing with a polar oil or polar alcohol. Effective agglomeration promoters were crude phenol, m-cresol, cresylic acid, methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol. Three coals, a North Dakota Lignite, a North Dakota Leonardite, and an Alaskan subbituminous coal, were pyrolyzed. Proximate analysis showed that the subbituminous char was typically lower in volatiles than the lignite. Adsorption of sulfur dioxide by the chars were indistinguishable from one another. Coal can be effectively solubilized by treatment with CO reductant in an aqueous solvent (CO steam process). In this report, the catalytic hydrotreatment of the solubilized low-severity products from sodium aluminate-catalyzed and uncatalyzed CO/H{sub 2}O reactions of a Wyodak subbituminous coal are compared. Liquefaction with the Co-Me catalyst gave 68% conversion to heptane solubles for both the sodium aluminate and the uncatalyzed low-severity reaction intermediates.