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We recently documented West Virginia University's achievements in the liquefaction of coal into alcohols.
Given China's close tracking, as we've many times documented, of WVU's coal conversion technology developments, it is unsurprising they, too, as documented herein, have been developing parallel technology to convert coal into alcohols that are useful both as liquid fuels, themselves, and as raw materials for gasoline synthesis and plastics manufacturing.
We present herein only some brief excerpts. There is information in the full report that we think deserves fuller review.
One table, in particular, compares the various aspects of making liquid fuels from coal via the indirect, direct and alcohol synthesis methods. It is an interesting exposition, but of most interest to us was the revelation that a factory, apparently unheralded by the coal industry press, has been making alcohol from coal in Shanxi province for more than ten years.
The excerpts:
"The Development of Coal-Based Alcohol and Ether Fuel in China
Ke-Chang Xie; Key Laboratory of Coal Science; PRC; Taiywan University of Technology
Based on the analysis, it is indicated that in the first 30 years of the 21st Century alcohol and ether made from coal are most probably the alternative fuel China needs. ... China should consider coal-based alcohol and ether alternative fuel as soon as possible.
China is scarce of oil and gas, but rich relatively in Coal resource. So depending on Coal to develop alternative fuel is the most reliable way to solve the problem."
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Again, the full document contains a worthwhile amount of more concrete information. Our purpose in presenting this report is simply to further document that coal-to-liquid fuel processes do exist, are being successfully operated elsewhere in the world, and are undergoing continuous improvement.
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CATALYTIC COAL HYDROGASIFICATION PROCESS - Patent 3847567
Since Methane is required for tri-reforming processes, such as the one explained, as we have documented, by Penn State University; and, the one we recently reported, which has been patented (US4886651; "Process for co-production of higher alcohols, methanol and ammonia") by Air Products and Chemicals, wherein Carbon Dioxide is consumed, recycled, as a co-reactant in the production of liquid hydrocarbons from Methane; and the CO2-recycling technology we just, in our last dispatch, reported as being described by West Virginia University; and the Carbon Dioxide utilization and recycling process patented by Exxon, as US5266175, we wanted to further document that, not only can the Methane needed for CO2 recycling be itself synthesized from Carbon Dioxide, via the Nobel-winning Sabatier, and other, technologies, it can also be generated from processes of Coal gasification.
And, Exxon knows it.
We have earlier reported Exxon's, then Esso's, development of coal gasification technology many decades ago, in the 1960's, and even the 1950's.
Herein, we see that Exxon further refined their early gasification technology, and were awarded a United States Patent for that refinement of their process to manufacture Methane, from Coal.
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Our excerpt from the attached file is brief. Due to way we had to track it down, we are unable to include a web link to it, or to provide details of it's time and place of publication. However, we feel certain the document is valid.
We have many times documented Penn State University's "Tri-reforming" process, and other, similar, technologies, wherein Carbon Dioxide can be reacted with Methane, which itself can be synthesized from Carbon Dioxide or Coal, as we have also many times documented, to synthesize higher hydrocarbons suitable as raw materials for liquid fuel or plastics manufacturing.
Herein, it is documented that knowledge of such Carbon Dioxide recycling technologies exists in the very heart of US Coal Country - at West Virginia University.
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Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information - Sponsored by OSTI
Over a period of years in the 1990's, West Virginia University developed technologies for "The Economical Production of Alcohol Fuels from Coal-Derived Synthesis Gas", for the United States Department of Energy, under Contract Number DE-AC22-91PC91034.
The Final Report, linked both above and immediately below, is far too large for us, with our limited technical capacities, to download and manage.
And, a caution: There seem to be two versions of the final report available; or, there is some discrepancy in the USDOE's catalog system. Separate searches have led us to two different file listings. The other bills itself as being "6Mb" in size.
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Conversion of methane, carbon dioxide and water using microwave radiation - Patent 5266175
This is a lengthy dispatch.
Keep in mind, through all of it, our earlier suggestions that the mandated geologic sequestration of Carbon Dioxide, in nearly-depleted petroleum reservoirs, just might be a scam being perpetrated on the coal industry, and on coal people, by Big Oil; him being intent on having us finance the scavenging of the last petroleum dregs from his nearly-depleted oil reservoirs, and having us pay him to take and store, all the transport at our expense, Carbon Dioxide in those reservoirs, until he wants it back for his own purposes.
When we suggested in earlier reports that Big Oil, through his support of Carbon Dioxide sequestration in old oil wells, all to be paid for by the coal-use industry and US taxpayers, wasn't just conniving to get other people to pay for the scrounging of a last bit of petroleum out of nearly-depleted oil reservoirs, but actually stealing, through deception, a potentially-valuable resource for later exploitation and commercial use, we weren't joking.
Herein, we document, with a US Patent, that ExxonMobil intends to recycle Carbon Dioxide, by converting it into synthesis gas from which liquid fuels can be produced via Fischer-Tropsch, and other, catalytic processes.
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