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Liquefaction pilot plant facility
Letters 2 3 4 5
Iino, M., Takanohashi, T., Ohsuga, H. and Toda, K. Fuel 1988,67, 1639 Iino, M., Takanohashi, T., Obara, S. et al. Fuel 1989, 68, 1589 Sternberg, H. W., Raymond, R. and Schweighardt, F. K. Science 1975,188,49 Stenberg, V. I., Baltisberger, R. J., Patel, K. M. et al. in ‘Coal Science’ (Eds.
6 7
8
M. L. Gorbaty, J. W. Larsen and I. Wender), Academic Press, 1983, pp. 125-171 Nishioka, M. and Larsen, J. W. Energy & Fuels 1990, 4, 100 Larsen, J. W. and Mohammadi, M. Energy & Fuels 1990, 4, 107 Snape, C. E. and Bartle, K. D. Fuel 1984,
9 10
63, 833 Okazaki, K., Takeshita, Y., Masuda, K. ef al. 58th Meeting of Japan Chem. Sot., 1989, Preprint II, p. 1024 Kaneko,T., Sasaki, M., Yokono,T. and Sanada, Y. Interim Report of Japan-USA JOINT Research Program (Ed. Y. Sanada), 1990, p. 18
News Liquefaction British
pilot
plant
facility
Coal Point of Ayr, Ffynnongroew,
British Coal’s ;E40million ‘oil-from-coal’ pilot plant was opened on 17 August 1990 by the Rt. Hon David Hunt, Secretary of State for Wales and the Chairman of British Coal, Lord Haslam. The new plant will convert 2-5 tonnes of coal a day into petrol, diesel and other transport fuels to assess the technical and commercial potential of British Coal’s high efficiency liquefaction process. The project is supported by the EEC; the UK Department of Energy; the West German coal producer Ruhrkohle; and the US-based Amoco Corporation. The pilot plant is an integrated unit capable of continuous operation and will, over the next few years, provide tonnage samples for testing in automobile engines, and design data for commercial petrol-and-diesel-from-coal plants which could consume 5-6 million tonnes of coal per year. The testing-out programme will involve various stages from coal feed, coal-oil slurry heating, total separation of mineral matter and the hydrogenation of clean coal-derived oil to produce a solids, sulphur and nitrogen-free distillate. This distillate is made into high octane,
1578
FUEL, 1990, Vol 69, December
Clwyd, North
Wales
lead-free petrol and low sulphur, low pour point diesel. It can be used to produce essentially all other products presently made from petroleum crude. The project will enable petrol and diesel to be made commercially from coal in a time-frame when oil prices rise and environmental standards become more stringent. The ability to make coproducts such as high purity electrode cokes for the aluminium and steel industries and speciality chemicals will be investigated. The pilot plant will be capable of upgrading heavy residual oils either separately or in conjunction with coal. Work on the plant, which is located alongside the Point of Ayr Colliery, began in 1986 when Fairclough Engineering, the main contractor for civil engineering and building construction, started. The main plant itself has been constructed by Simon-Carves Ltd. The plant has been designed using important new technology developed at British Coal’s Coal Research Establishment at Cheltenham. This includes high temperature filtration equipment to remove unwanted mineral matter and
also unique to the UK, an ebullated bed hydrocracker with facility for catalyst addition and removal. Scaling of the successful laboratory liquid solvent extraction process developed at CRE to a fully-operational pilot-plant processing 2.5 tonnes of coal a day is an essential step towards an engineering design from which commercial plants could be developed. Direct liquefaction of solid coal produces light distillates rich in aromatic compounds suitable for upgrading to finished transport fuels. Using standard oil refinery techniques, high octane numbers without the addition of lead compounds can be achieved. That would mean future demand for transport fuels being able to be met by coal-derived hydrocarbon liquids. The process has a high yield of transport fuels per tonne of coal up to double that of traditional gasification or synthesis routes which produce a wider range of products including paraffmic materials which have a much lower commercial value. All the potential environmental pollutants from coal mineral matter, including any heavy metals, sulphur, and nitrogen, are removed during the process to ensure that petrol and diesel from coa1 more than meet existing specifications.
Iino, M., Takanohashi, T., Ohsuga, H. and Toda, K. Fuel 1988,67, 1639 Iino, M., Takanohashi, T., Obara, S. et al. Fuel 1989, 68, 1589 Sternberg, H. W., Raymond, R. and Schweighardt, F. K. Science 1975,188,49 Stenberg, V. I., Baltisberger, R. J., Patel, K. M. et al. in ‘Coal Science’ (Eds.
6 7
8
M. L. Gorbaty, J. W. Larsen and I. Wender), Academic Press, 1983, pp. 125-171 Nishioka, M. and Larsen, J. W. Energy & Fuels 1990, 4, 100 Larsen, J. W. and Mohammadi, M. Energy & Fuels 1990, 4, 107 Snape, C. E. and Bartle, K. D. Fuel 1984,
9 10
63, 833 Okazaki, K., Takeshita, Y., Masuda, K. ef al. 58th Meeting of Japan Chem. Sot., 1989, Preprint II, p. 1024 Kaneko,T., Sasaki, M., Yokono,T. and Sanada, Y. Interim Report of Japan-USA JOINT Research Program (Ed. Y. Sanada), 1990, p. 18
News Liquefaction British
pilot
plant
facility
Coal Point of Ayr, Ffynnongroew,
British Coal’s ;E40million ‘oil-from-coal’ pilot plant was opened on 17 August 1990 by the Rt. Hon David Hunt, Secretary of State for Wales and the Chairman of British Coal, Lord Haslam. The new plant will convert 2-5 tonnes of coal a day into petrol, diesel and other transport fuels to assess the technical and commercial potential of British Coal’s high efficiency liquefaction process. The project is supported by the EEC; the UK Department of Energy; the West German coal producer Ruhrkohle; and the US-based Amoco Corporation. The pilot plant is an integrated unit capable of continuous operation and will, over the next few years, provide tonnage samples for testing in automobile engines, and design data for commercial petrol-and-diesel-from-coal plants which could consume 5-6 million tonnes of coal per year. The testing-out programme will involve various stages from coal feed, coal-oil slurry heating, total separation of mineral matter and the hydrogenation of clean coal-derived oil to produce a solids, sulphur and nitrogen-free distillate. This distillate is made into high octane,
1578
FUEL, 1990, Vol 69, December
Clwyd, North
Wales
lead-free petrol and low sulphur, low pour point diesel. It can be used to produce essentially all other products presently made from petroleum crude. The project will enable petrol and diesel to be made commercially from coal in a time-frame when oil prices rise and environmental standards become more stringent. The ability to make coproducts such as high purity electrode cokes for the aluminium and steel industries and speciality chemicals will be investigated. The pilot plant will be capable of upgrading heavy residual oils either separately or in conjunction with coal. Work on the plant, which is located alongside the Point of Ayr Colliery, began in 1986 when Fairclough Engineering, the main contractor for civil engineering and building construction, started. The main plant itself has been constructed by Simon-Carves Ltd. The plant has been designed using important new technology developed at British Coal’s Coal Research Establishment at Cheltenham. This includes high temperature filtration equipment to remove unwanted mineral matter and
also unique to the UK, an ebullated bed hydrocracker with facility for catalyst addition and removal. Scaling of the successful laboratory liquid solvent extraction process developed at CRE to a fully-operational pilot-plant processing 2.5 tonnes of coal a day is an essential step towards an engineering design from which commercial plants could be developed. Direct liquefaction of solid coal produces light distillates rich in aromatic compounds suitable for upgrading to finished transport fuels. Using standard oil refinery techniques, high octane numbers without the addition of lead compounds can be achieved. That would mean future demand for transport fuels being able to be met by coal-derived hydrocarbon liquids. The process has a high yield of transport fuels per tonne of coal up to double that of traditional gasification or synthesis routes which produce a wider range of products including paraffmic materials which have a much lower commercial value. All the potential environmental pollutants from coal mineral matter, including any heavy metals, sulphur, and nitrogen, are removed during the process to ensure that petrol and diesel from coa1 more than meet existing specifications.