Chemical Engineering October 2011 - 13

(Continued from p. 11)
Making crude oil from coal, without mining or combustion
A
n underground coal-to-liquids (UCTL)
technology is undergoing pilot testing at
Oak Park, near Melbourne Australia, where
a metric ton of brown coal is expected to yield
about one barrel of oil suitable for use as refinery
feedstock on an oil-parity price basis.
UCTL takes place within the underground
coal seam, whereby low rank coals are liquefied
into crude oil substitute product at
300°C. Heat released from the reaction is
returned to the surface as steam, which can
be used to generate electricity.
The technology is subject to two patent applications
lodged by its inventor, Peter O'Dowd,
a consultant from South Australia. One patent
covers the overall process, and the second
covers the delivery of water with simulated
supercritical properties (WSSP). This is water
with high kinetic energy delivered using a jet
pump and purpose-designed nozzles. Regal
Resources Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia; www.
regalresources.com.au) has exclusive worldwide
rights to commercialize the process.
The UCTL process requires no direct
mining or coal combustion. It utilizes highpressure
water and catalysts to produce hytion
of feedstocks, such as
municipal solid waste, sewage
sludge, woodchips and others,
to occur at low cost.
drocarbon liquids, methane and steam from
coal through drill holes. Small quantities of
non-toxic initiation chemicals and catalysts
are introduced into the coal seam creating
an exothermic reaction, which increases the
temperature to over 300°C. As the temperature
approaches 300°C, the initiation chemicals
are gradually replaced with WSSP and
the liquefaction of the coal continues. The
company says the effectiveness of the WSSP
can be up to 200 m from the nozzle.
Conversion of coal to oil using supercritical
water is a proven process. WSSP replicates
supercritical properties by using high
velocity instead of high pressure.
The pilot plant aims, among other things:
Chemineer Ragless Ad PRINT.qxd 9/16/11 2:36 PM Page 1
to produce long chain hydrocarbons suitable
for processing in existing petroleum refineries
without modification; to compare UCTL
liquids-to-gas ratio to that produced under
ideal conditions whereby 95% liquids and 5%
gas can occur; to confirm that there is a low
percentage of CO2 emissions, as compared
with underground coal gasification that
occurs at temperature above 1,000°C and
which produces a higher proportion of CO2.
Organic solar cells
last month, Konarka technologies
(lowell, mass.; www.
konarka.com) formed strategic
alliances with several german
companies to integrate
its organic photovoltaic (oPV)
technology into building facades.
thyssenKrupp Steel
europe ag (Duisburg, germany;
www.thyssenkruppsteel-europe.com)
plans to
integrate Konarka's cells into
steel roof and facades, thereby
producing a multifunctional as
well as an aesthetic product,
which encases the building
and produces solar power. the
roll-to-roll production process
Konarka uses (see CE, February
2008, p. 17-20) is similar
to the established Coil-Coating
process of thyssenKrupp Steel
europe. the development will
be based on PowerPlastic, a
(Continues on p. 16)
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Chemical Engineering October 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering October 2011
