Single stage catalytic coal gasification

A Utah high volatile bituminous coal was slurried in tetralin and gasified to light hydrocarbons in the presence of hydrocracking catalysts and molecular hydrogen in a continuous flow system. Nickel-tungsten/silica-alumina and a 4:1 mixture of nickel-molybdenum/alumina and silica-alumina were studied at 723°K (450°C), 773°K (500°C), and 823 K (550°C). The nickel-tungsten/silica-alumina catalyst produced high yields of Co-C* hydrocarbons, including 39% propane, in addition to methane at all three temperatures studied. The 4:1 mixture of nickel-molybdenum/alumina and silica-alumina produced higher relative yields of methane and lower yields of Co-C* hydrocarbons than the nickel-tungsten/silica-alumina catalyst, particularly at 823°K (550°C). The product composition shifts towards lighter hydrocarbons with increasing temperature in both of the catalyst systems studied. The proper object of the natural sciences is to discover an existing order, and not to invent one; and any scientific thesis is valid only to the extent that it represents what is literally so.