Coal Products
 
Development of Coal Hydrogasification Technology
K Nomura, F Norguchi, K Katsukura The Japanese Gas Association; H Maruyama and T Ohoma NEDO, Japan
Coal Hydrogasification for producing substitute natural gas (SNG) is a promising technology in Japan to secure a stable supply of natural gas by diversifying its sources.  Under agreement with NEDO, the Japan Gas Association has completed a 5-year program in which three elemental gasifier technologies and two peripheral technologies were developed using experimental apparatus.
 
In gasification tests, a wide range of carbon conversion was verified under various conditions including two-stage reaction.  A new injector, which incorporates a tip burner to generate high temperature hydrogen, was developed through the hot model test.  The optimal internal configuration was developed to generate adequate recycle of product gas and form the two-stage reaction zone through the cold model test.  Dense phase coal conveying was verified using hydrogen under high pressure between 3 and 7 MPa, and various factors for stable discharge and cooling of char, which is residue from the hyrogasifier, was confirmed using a model particle.

Low Severity Extraction of Pitch from Coal as a Precursor to Value Added Products – Revisited
A Berkovich and C Lafferty  University of Kentucky, Lexington USA
This paper reports on the production of pitch feedstocks for value added carbon materials via mild solvent extraction of coal.  Crude anthracene oil, an inexpensive coal tar distillate was shown to extract a reasonable yield of pitch from coal under mild temperatures with no over pressure.  The effect of extraction temperature, residence times and coal to solvent ratios was investigated for a suite of coals differing in rank and sulfur content.  The extraction capability of recycled anthracene oils recovered from prior extractions was also examined.  Carbon fibers were fabricated from the derived pitches and their physical properties assessed.
 
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