Showing papers on "Coal published in 1972"

Situ coal bed gasification

Abstract: Deeply buried relatively thick coal bed formations are fractured explosively. Reactant input conduits communicating with upper portions of the fragmented coal zone and product withdrawal conduits communicating with lower portions thereof are provided. The uppermost layer of the fragmented zone is ignited as by injection of oxygen and fuel gas from a surface plant while the product conduits are closed off to raise the operating pressure in the fragmented zone to balance hydrostatic pressure so that the fragmented zone comprises effectively a pressurized reaction vessel. Water or steam together with regulated amounts of oxygen are then introduced while reaction products are withdrawn at a rate at which operating pressure is maintained so that a relatively higher temperature reaction zone layer is reacted in the upper layer to travel progressively downward. A graduated lower temperature region precedes the higher temperature zone. Various gasification reactions occur in the reaction zones with the net overall products being methane and CO2 with relatively little up to varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen appearing in the reaction product gas. Processing to remove CO2 and react the carbon monoxide and hydrogen if deemed necessary is done at the surface yielding a high caloric value fuel gas suitable for pipeline or for synthesis uses.

Process for simultaneously increasing recovery and upgrading oil in a reservoir

Abstract: A process for simultaneously increasing recovery and upgrading oil in a reservoir by injecting gas produced by the in situ gasification of coal to increase recovery and upgrade said oil. The gas is also useful in the production of steam and other gaseous materials for injection.

The application of spectroscopic techniques to the structural analysis of coal and petroleum

Abstract: Carbon is only a trace element in the structure of the earth (carbon content of the earth's crust is 004% [l]), but it is an indispensable necessity of life and provides the major source of energy through carbonaceous residues (peat, lignite, coal) and fuels (oil and natural gas) which have been produced over millions of years by chemical and bacteriological decompositions of organic matter originally deposited in ancient sediments There is little doubt that coal and petroleum oils have been known for many hundreds of years but, preceding the industrial revolution of the 19th century, they were not of any importance However, the advent of this industrial revolution has caused man to turn from wood to coal and petroleum as a main source of fuel Furthermore, with the onset of the 20th century and the development of a technologically oriented society, further uses have been found not only for coal and petroleum, but also for products derived from these fossil materials Thus, vast industries hav

Plasma Pyrolysis of Coal

Abstract: WHEN coal is heated rapidly to temperatures above 1,250° C, the emitted volatiles are cracked to yield lower hydrocarbons which, if conditions are favourable, will consist mainly of acetylene. Such conditions involve reaction times of only a few milliseconds coupled with very rapid quenching rates.

Method of reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from coal

Abstract: A method of reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from coal by adding an effective amount of Wyoming Trona to the coal for combining with sulphur in the coal to form a relatively heavy ash which is collected with other heavier ash for removal in the usual way.

Three-stage gasification of coal

Abstract: A process for the production of methane-rich fuel gas by the gasification of coal in three stages. In the first stage, partially gasified char recycled from the process is reacted with oxygen and superheated steam at pressures greater than 50 atmospheres and temperatures greater than 2,500*F. to yield a first stage synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon oxides. In the second stage, the first stage synthesis gas is reacted with superheated steam and coal at pressures in excess of 50 atmospheres and temperatures in excess of 1,600*F. to yield a partially gasified char entrained in a second stage product gas containing methane, hydrogen and carbon oxides. In the third stage, char and gases from the second stage form a fluidized bed reacting at a pressure in excess of 50 atmospheres and at a temperature in excess of 1,500*F. to form char entrained in a third stage product gas containing methane, hydrogen and oxides of carbon. The third stage char and third stage product gas are separated with the char recycled to the first stage and the product gas is purified by the removal of carbon oxides, hydrogen sulfide and other impurities and the purified product gas is methanated to produce the methane rich fuel gas. Slag formed in the first and second stages is collected in the third stage and is removed from the process after elutriation from the slag of char collected with the slag, which char is returned to the third stage.

High incidence of gastric carcinoma in a coal mining region.

Abstract: Carbon and Emery Counties contain the only coal mining regions in Utah. The age- and sex-adjusted incidence of gastric cancer in these 2 counties is 4 times that of the State of Utah. A detailed study of the patients with stomach cancer in the coal mining region revealed that 59% of male patients in Carbon and Emery Counties were coal miners. The gastric cancer incidence in coal miners was at least 3 times that of non-coal miners living in counties with coal mining and at least 8 times that of males in counties with no coal mining. The increased risk for females in these 2 counties was not statistically significant, but the increased risk in males was highly significant compared to other Utah males. All homes of patients afflicted with gastric cancer in both Carbon and Emery Counties were heated with coal, and, in some of the homes, coal was used for cooking. It is concluded that coal mining in this area might be an etiologic factor and, to a lesser degree, the extensive use of soft coal.

Apparatus and method for desulfurizing and completely gasifying coal

Abstract: A system and process in which coal is desulfurized and completely gasified utilizes a plurality of fluidized beds and the desulfurized gaseous effluent from the system is utilized as a fuel for a combined gas and steam turbine power plant, in which a portion of the pressurized air produced by the gas turbine's compressor is utilized by the coal gasifying apparatus and the hot gases from the process are utilized to dry the coal, producing an economical power generating system which emits a minimum amount of sulfur compounds to the environment.

Two-stage downflow gasification of coal

Abstract: A process for the two-stage downflow gasification of coal to produce a methane rich fuel gas. In a first stage, partially gasified char recycled from a second stage is reacted with super-heated steam and oxygen to produce a first stage synthesis gas. In the second stage, the first stage synthesis gas is mixed and reacted with coal and steam to produce partially gasified char and a hydrogen-rich product gas containing methane. Pressures in the first and second stages are maintained at at least 50 atmospheres. Slag formed in the first stage reaction is maintained in the molten state at temperatures in excess of 2,500 DEG F. Gases, excess char and slag flow into the second stage in which coal, synthesis gas and steam react whereby the slag is cooled and solidified before it contacts the walls of the reactor in the second stage. After removal and separation of the partially gasified char and product gas from the second stage, the char is recycled to the first stage and the product gas is purified and methanated. The solidified slag is collected in the second stage and is thereafter elutriated with steam and quenched before disposal.

Two-stage gasification of coal with forced reactant mixing and steam treatment of recycled char

Abstract: A PROCESS FOR THE TWO-STAGE GASIFICATION OF COAL TO PRODUCE METHANE-RICH FUEL GAS. IN THE FIRST STAGE, RECYCLED PROCESSED CHAR PASSES UPWARDLY WHILE REACTING WITH STEAM AND OXYGEN TO YIELD A FIRST STAGE SYNTHESIS GAS CONTAINING HYDROGEN AND OXIDES OF CARBON. IN THE SECOND STAGE, THE SYNTHESIS GAS PASSES UPWARDLY WITH COAL AND STEAM WHICH REACT TO YIELD PARTIALLY GASIFIED CHAR ENTRAINED IN A SECOND STAGE PRODUCT GAS CONTAINING METHANE, HYDROGEN AND OXIDES OF CARBON. THE PRODUCT GAS FROM THE SECOND STAGE IS SEPARATED FROM THE CHAR AND IS PURIFIED BY CONVERSION AND REMOVAL OF CARBON OXIDES, HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND OTHER IMPURITIES, AND THE PURIFIED SECOND STAGE PRODUCT GAS IS METHANATED TO PRODUCE THE DESIRED FUEL GAS. CHAR SEPARATED FROM THE SECOND STAGE PRODUCT GAS IS PASSED THROUGH A FLUIDIZED BED AND SCRUBBED WITH STEAM TO REMOVE PRODUCT GAS AND OTHER VOLATILE MATERIALS WHICH ARE CARRIED BY THE SCRUBBING STEAM TO THE SECOND STAGE PRODUCT GAS CARRIED TO PURIFICATION. THE SCRUBBED RECYCLE CHAR IS CARRIED BY STEAM AT HIGH PRESSURE AND RETURNED TO THE FIRST STAGE. AGGLOMERATION OF COAL IN THE SECOND STAGE IS PREVENTED BY THE RAPID HEATING OF THE COAL TO A TEMPERATURE ABOVE ITS RANGE OF PLASTICITY BY MIXING IT WITH THE HOT PRODUCTS FROM THE FIRST STAGE. IN THE FIRST STAGE THE RATIO OF CHAR AND STEAM TO OXYGEN IS SELECTED TO OBTAIN A REACTION TEMPERATURE ABOVE THE ASH MELTING POINT. THE PRESSURE IN EACH STAGE EXCEEDS 500 P.S.I.G. THE SECOND STAGE TEMPERATURE EXCEEDS 1500*F. AND THE FIRST STAGE TEMPERATURE EXCEEDS 2200*F. GAS VELOCITIES IN BOTH STAGES ARE MAINTAINED BETWEEN 2 AND 12 FEET PER SECOND WHILE THE RESIDENCE TIME OF SOLIDS IN THE FIRST STAGE IS FROM ONEHALF TO FIVE SECONDS AND, IN THE SECOND STAGE, FROM FIVE TO FIFTEEN SECONDS. A MIXING STAGE BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND STAGES PROVIDES A RESTRICTED AREA FOR THE INJECTION OF COAL AND STEAM INTO THE UPWARDLY FLOWING SYNTHESIS GAS TO SEPARATE SOLIDS AND GASES ENTERING THE SECOND STAGE FROM THE FIRST STAGE AND TO ASSURE RAPID MIXING AND REACTION OF THE REACTANTS OF BOTH STAGES. SLAG IS REMOVED FROM THE LOWER END OF THE FIRST STAGE FOR QUENCHING AND DISPOSAL THROUGH A SLAG REMOVAL PORT OF SMALL CROSS SECTIONAL AREA COMPARED TO THE CROSS SECTIONAL AREA OF THE FIRST STAGE. THIS ASSURES RESIDENCE AND REACTION TIME OF THE CHAR IN THE FIRST STAGE SUFFICIENT FOR ITS GASIFICATION WITH STEAM AND OXYGEN AT TEMPERATURES ABOVE THE ASH MELTING POINT. THE RELATIVELY SMALL AREA OF THE SLAG REMOVAL PORT PERMITS CONTROLLED REMOVAL OF MOLTEN SLAG WHILE RESTRICTING THE GRAVITATION OF CHAR TO THE SLAG QUENCHING STAGE. D R A W I N G

Manufacture of activated carbon from sized coal

Abstract: Activated carbon comparable to conventional granular activated carbon is manufactured without the steps of pulverizing, mixing, briquetting, and carbonizing. The carbon is made from dried, subbituminous coal by sizing, simultaneously drying and oxidizing, and thereafter activating the sized coal.

Coal mine spoil and refuse bank reclamation with powerplant fly ash

Abstract: Numerous coal mine refuse piles and strip spoil banks mar the countryside, contributing to stream and air pollution and land degradation. Experimental reclamation of several such sites with fly ash from bituminous coal-fired powerplants was conducted in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Conventional farm equipment was used at some of the sites; large earthmovers were required at others. The fly ash served as a neutralizing agent, diluent, and soil amendment, providing some nutrients that encouraged vegetation of the barren areas while disposing of significant quantities of the powerplant waste. Estimated cost of reclamation by this method is $300 per acre of previously leveled area. This figure can vary considerably depending upon the topography of the site, distance from the source of fly ash, and quality of the fly ash.

Method of treating coal refuse

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of treating coal refuse containing pyrites and ash to produce usable products therefrom. The coal refuse is mixed with lime or limestone, formed into pellets and heated to form pellets containing calcium sulfide. The pellets are then reacted with carbon dioxide and water to form hydrogen sulfide and a calcium carbonate bonded coherent product which may be used for a variety of commercial purposes. The hydrogen sulfide produced in the reaction is converted to saleable elemental sulfur.

Process and apparatus for the production of combustible gases

Abstract: Substantially sulphur-free fuel gas is produced from coal by gasification of particles of coal with a steam/oxygen mixture at an upstream end of a bed of fluidized particles containing an alkaline earth metal oxide, sulphur from the coal being fixed in the particles as alkaline earth metal sulphides. The bed particles travel generally downstream towards a regenerator, and at the downstream end, oil is injected into the bed and gasified to compensate for the reduced coal concentration at the downstream end whereby to avoid dilution of the fuel gas. Bed material from the downstream end is contacted with oxygen or air to convert sulphides to oxides, SO2 being liberated and recovered and the oxide-containing regenerated particles are returned to upstream end of the bed.

Indirectly heat exchanging plural gas streams for dry quenching hot coke and drying coal

Abstract: A coke plant and method for operating the same according to which the coke is cooled by dry-quenching and the coal is dried, prior to being charged in a coke oven, with heat extracted during dry-quenching of the coke. The coke plant and method, in addition to carrying out the latter operations, reduce pollution of the atmosphere by releasing only cleaned and desulfurized gas to the outer atmosphere.

Desulfurization of coal.

Abstract: Coal combustion is the largest single source of sulfur oxide pollution. Treatment of some major representative U.S. coals with aqueous ferric solution removes 40 to 75 percent of the sulfur content through near quantitative oxidation of the pyritic sulfur contained in the coal matrix. Elemental sulfur and iron sulfate are recovered as products of the reaction. Engineering assessment indicates that the system, when fully developed, offers high potential for the economic abatement of sulfur oxide pollution.

Method of and system for gasifying underground deposits of coal

Abstract: An underground coal deposit is provided with two separate channel systems and respective regions of the deposit are progressively combusted. The combustion heat expels high-value gases which are withdrawn through one of the channel systems, and the subsequent gasification of the coal from which the high-value gases have been thus expelled, results in the formation of lower-value combustion gases which are also withdrawn, but separately and through the other channel system.

Method for preventing the freezing together of coal particles

Abstract: COAL PARTICLES ARE PREVENTED FROM FREEZING TOGETHER ANDD OR TO THE SURFACES OF COAL STORAGE CONTAINERS BY COATING EITHER THE COAL PARTICLES AND OR THE SURFACES OF SAID STORAGE CONTAINERS WITH A THIN FILM OF A COMPOSITION COMPRISING A HYDROCARBON LIQUID WHICH HAS EMULSIFIED THEREWITH FROM 5 TO 75% BY WEIGHT OF AN AQUEOUS SOLUTION OF A POLYHYDRIC ALCOHOL.

Desulfurized char with phosphoric acid

Abstract: CRUSHED COAL MAY BE DESULFURIZED BY SLURRYING WITH A PHOSPHORIC OR PHOSPHORUS ACID OR MIXTURE THEREOF, REMOVING EXCESS LIQUID, AND HEATING THE MIXTUE AT AN-ELEVATED TEMPERATURE TO DRIVE THE SULFUR FROM THE COAL.