EVALUATION OF USE OF SYNGAS FOR COAL LIQUEFACTION

Coal liquefaction processes by direct catalytic liquefaction or extractive hydrogenation could benefit economically by using syngas in place of hydrogen. Data are presented to show that the hydrotreating of bituminous coal using syngas and steam with CoMo-K2CO3 catalyst gave product oil similar to that obtained from the hydrotreating using H2 and Co-Mo catalyst. A comparative process evaluation has been made for the direct catalytic liquefaction of coal using H2 and syngas. Summaries of mass balance, energy balance, and cost estimation are presented. The use of syngas reduces the capital and operating costs by eliminating shift convenors and gas purifying systems and thus could reduce the process cost of SYNTHOIL and H-coal by about 14%. The process economics could be further improved by the use of a high-pressure coal gasification process for the syngas production. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.