LOW COST IRON MICROPARTICLES FOR SLURRY CATALYZED COAL LIQUEFACTION

DUE TO THE HIGH COST OF TRANSPORTATION AND HIGH SULFUR ASH CONTENT, SOLID COAL IS SUITABLE FOR USE ONLY IN SPECIALLY EQUIPPED POWER GENERATION FACILITIES. DIRECT COAL LIQUEFACTION IS AN ATTRACTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOLLOWED BY THE DOEBUT CURRENTLY USES EXPENSIVE MOLYBDENUM CATALYST. IRON IS RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE AND ITS USE WOULD ELIMINATE A COSTLY STEP OF CATALYST RECOVERY. CONSIDERABLE RESEARCH HAS SHOWN IRON TO BE A GOOD CATALYST FOR HYDROGENATION, HYDROCONVERSION, HYDRODESULFURIZATION, AND DEMETALLIZATION OF COAL AND PETROLEUM RESIDUA. HOWEVER, THE EFFORTS HAVE SUFFERED FROM LACK OF AGREEMENT AMONG VARIOUS RESEARCHERS--THERE IS NOT A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE ACTUALACTIVE SPECIES. A SYSTEMATIC SURVEY OF THE CATALYTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF HIGHLY DISPERSED IRON-SULFUR SPECIES WOULD CONTRIBUTE GREATLY TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHEMICAL PROCESS INVOLVED AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL CATALYST SYSTEM WITH IMPROVED UTILITY. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WOULD TAKE THE INNOVATIVE APPROACH OF COMBINING THE SIGNIFICANT PROCESS COST IMPROVEMENTS ACHIEVABLE VIA SINGLE STAGE SLURRY CATALYZED COPROCESSING WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART CATALYST DEVELOPMENT. ELECTROCHEM WILL PREPARE HIGHLY DISPERSED IRON AND TEST IN A BENCH SCALE COPROCESSOR. A THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF THE FEEDSTOCKS AND PRODUCTS AS WELL AS EXHAUSTIVE PRE- AND POST TEST CATALYST CHARACTERIZATION WILL BE INTEGRAL PARTS OF THE RESEARCH EFFORT. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE AN ACCURATE MEASURE OF CATALYST EFFECTIVENESS, AS WELL AS DATA FOR FUTURE CORRELATION OF FEEDSTOCK CHARACTERISTICS AND REACTOR CONDITIONS WITH PRODUCE DISTRIBUTION AND QUALITY.