H-COAL PROCESS COMES OFF THE BENCH.

Hydrocarbon Research Inc. 's H-coal system - claimed to be at least two years ahead of alternative liquefaction process - is described. Under development for the past ten years, the H-coal process is now to be tested in a pilot plant to built in Kentucky. The H-Coal Process requires coal to be dried, pulverized and slurried in oil (derived from the process itself) for pumping to a specially designed reactor. The slurry is charged continuously with hydrogen through an ebullated catalyst bed in which the catalyst, a commercially available cobalt molybdate, is churned about in a ″boiling″ (or ebullating) manner. At this stage, the coal is converted into liquid and gas products.