NOVEL MICROPARTICLES FOR SLURRY-CATALYZED COAL LIQUEFACTION

BECAUSE OF THE HIGH COST OF TRANSPORTATION AND HIGH SULFUR ASH CONTENT, SOLID COAL IS SUITABLE FOR USE ONLY IN SPECIALLY EQUIPPED POWER GENERATION FACILITIES. THUS, WHILECOAL ACCOUNTS FOR 90% OF ALL PROVEN NORTH AMERICAN ENERGY RESERVES, THE UNITED STATES CONTINUES TO IMPORT AN INCREASING PROPORTION OF ITS PETROLEUM IN THE FORM OF LIGHT CRUDE OILS FROM POTENTIALLY HOSTILE FOREIGN SOURCES. WHILE CONVENTIONAL COAL LIQUEFACTION TECHNOLOGY HAS ATTEMPTED TO ADDRESS THIS SITUATION WITH A NUMBER OF PILOT PLANT-SCALERESEARCH PROJECTS, THE RESULTS HAVE BEEN LIMITED TO INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS THROUGH CHANGES IN REACTOR TEMPERATURE AND CONFIGURATION, AND THE USE OF A CATALYST THAT IS OFTEN SOME FORM OF MOLYBDENUM SUPPORTED ON ALUMINA. CONSIDERABLE RESEARCH HAS PROVED MOLYBDENUM TO BE AN EXCELLENT CATALYST FOR HYDROCONVERSION. A SYSTEMATIC SURVEYOF THE CATALYTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF HIGHLY DISPERSED MOLYBDENUM-SULFUR SPECIES WOULD CONTRIBUTE GREATLY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CATALYST SYSTEMS WITH IMPROVED UTILITY. THIS PROJECT TAKES THE INNOVATIVE APPROACH OF COMBINING THE SIGNIFICANT PROCESS COST IMPROVEMENTS ACHIEVABLE THROUGH SINGLE STAGE COPROCESSING WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART CATALYST DEVELOPMENT. HIGHLY DISPERSED MOLYBDENUM WILL BE PREPARED IN THREE DISTINCT FORMS: AN OIL-DISPERSIBLE COLLOID, MICROCRYSTALLITES SUPPORTED ON VARIOUS TYPES OF CARBON, AND ATOMIC DISPERSION IN CARBON POWDER BY ION IMPLANTATION. A MINIMUM OF FOUR OF THESE CATALYSTS WILL BE TESTED 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 PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION AND QUALITY.