This invention relates to a process for converting solid carbonaceous material, such as coal, to liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons utilizing methane, generally at a residence time of about 20-120 minutes at a temperature of 250°-750° C., preferably 350°-450° C., pressurized up to 6000 psi, and preferably in the 1000-2500 psi range, preferably directly utilizing methane 50-100% by volume in a mix of methane and hydrogen. A hydrogen donor solvent or liquid vehicle such as tetralin, tetrahydroquinoline, piperidine, and pyrolidine may be used in a slurry mix where the solvent feed is 0-100% by weight of the coal or carbonaceous feed. Carbonaceous feed material can either be natural, such as coal, wood, oil shale, petroleum, tar sands, etc., or man-made residual oils, tars, and heavy hydrocarbon residues from other processing systems.

Direct use of methane in coal liquefaction

A baffle-style stripping arrangement for an FCC process having substantially horizontal stripping baffles is disclosed. The stripping baffles comprise a perforated section and a downcomer section which generates transverse movement of catalyst across the baffle to ensure adequate vertical movement of stripping media. The perforated section is covered with stripping openings to provide improved stripping efficiency and catalyst flux through the stripping vessel. The perforated section may comprise a grate. Baffles may also include an imperforate section which is vertically aligned with a downcomer section of a superjacent baffle.

Stripping process with horizontal baffles

An improved process for retorting a solid carbonaceous material at elevated temperatures wherein a portion of the spent solids withdrawn from the retort is heated to a temperature within the range from about 1600° F. to about 2400° F. and then recycled to the retort as a source of heat at a temperature within the range from about 650° F. to about 1600° F. When the improved process of this invention is operated in this manner, the amount of liquid product obtained is maximized and the amount of gaseous product minimized. Moreover, the integrity of the particles thus recycled is improved and the amount of fines in the liquid product correspondingly reduced.

Retorting with sintered or fused solids

The heavy oil fraction of pyrolysis oil vapors containing concentrated contaminants is coked on hot heat transfer material. The coke-containing heat transfer material is then mixed with raw feed in a retorting vessel provided with an inert stripping gas of a velocity sufficient to lower the dew point of the pyrolysis oil.

Process for coking contaminated pyrolysis oil on heat transfer material

The steam content and pressure of a recycled steam/hydrocarbon gas mixture in an oil shale retorting process is raised by high quality makeup steam producing a retort stripping gas of high efficiency (high oil yield) with minimal water consumption.

Steam recycle used as stripping gas in oil shale retorting

A process for retorting a carbon containing solid, especially oil shale, comprises passing heat transfer particles and raw particles of carbon containing solid downwardly through a fluidized retort zone containing a plurality of baffles to prevent gross vertical backmixing. The heated solid particles and heat transfer particles are then passed to a moving packed bed retort to pyrolyze the carbon containing solid particles.

Spars Byron G

Papers

Modified staged turbulent bed process for retorting carbon containing solids