Incorporation of Catalytic Dehydrogenation into Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis to Significantly Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

A new method of producing liquid transportation fuels from coal and other hydrocarbons that significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions by combining Fischer-Tropsch synthesis with catalytic dehydrogenation is claimed. Catalytic dehydrogenation (CDH) of the gaseous products (C1-C4) of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) can produce large quantities of hydrogen while converting the carbon to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). Incorporation of CDH into a FTS-CDH plant converting coal to liquid fuels can eliminate all or most of the CO2 emissions from the water-gas shift (WGS) reaction that is currently used to elevate the H2 level of coal-derived syngas for FTS. Additionally, the FTS-CDH process saves large amounts of water used by the WGS reaction and produces a valuable by-product, MWCNT

Incorporation of Catalytic Dehydrogenation into Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis to Lower Carbon Dioxide Emissions

A method for producing liquid fuels includes the steps of gasifying a starting material selected from a group consisting of coal, biomass, carbon nanotubes and mixtures thereof to produce a syngas, subjecting that syngas to Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) to produce a hyrdrocarbon product stream, separating that hydrocarbon product stream into C1-C4 hydrocarbons and C5+ hydrocarbons to be used as liquid fuels and subjecting the C1-C4 hydrocarbons to catalytic dehydrogenation (CDH) to produce hydrogen and carbon nanotubes. The hydrogen produced by CDH is recycled to be mixed with the syngas incident to the FTS reactor in order to raise the hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio of the syngas to values of 2 or higher, which is required to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels. This is accomplished with little or no production of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The carbon is captured in the form of a potentially valuable by-product, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT), while huge emissions of carbon dioxide are avoided and very large quantities of water employed for the water-gas shift in traditional FTS systems are saved

Cooperative Research in C1 Chemistry

C1 chemistry refers to the conversion of simple carbon-containing materials that contain one carbon atom per molecule into valuable products. The feedstocks for C1 chemistry include natural gas, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methanol and synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen). Synthesis gas, or syngas, is produced primarily by the reaction of natural gas, which is principally methane, with steam. It can also be produced by gasification of coal, petroleum coke, or biomass. The availability of syngas from coal gasification is expected to increase significantly in the future because of increasing development of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation. Because of the abundance of remote natural gas, the advent of IGCC, and environmental advantages, C1 chemistry is expected to become a major area of interest for the transportation fuel and chemical industries in the relatively near future. The CFFLS will therefore perform a valuable national service by providing science and engineering graduates that are trained in this important area. Syngas is the source of most hydrogen. Approximately 10 trillion standard cubic feet (SCF) of hydrogen are manufactured annually in the world. Most of this hydrogen is currently used for the production of ammonia and in a variety of refining and chemical operations. However, utilization of hydrogen in fuel cells is expected to grow significantly in the next century. Syngas is also the feedstock for all methanol and Fischer-Tropsch plants. Currently, world consumption of methanol is over 25 million tons per year. There are many methanol plants in the U.S. and throughout the world. Methanol and oxygenated transportation fuel products play a significant role in the CFFLS C1 program. Currently, the only commercial Fischer-Tropsch plants are overseas, principally in South Africa (SASOL). However, new plants are being built or planned for a number of locations. One possible location for future F-T plant development in the U.S. is in the Alaskan oil fields

Binary Ferrihydrite Catalysts

A method of preparing a catalyst precursor comprises dissolving an iron salt and a salt of an oxoanion forming agent, in water so that a solution of the iron salt and oxoanion forming agent salt has a ratio of oxoanion/Fe of between 0.0001:1 to 0.5:1. Next is increasing the pH of the solution to 10 by adding a strong base followed by collecting of precipitate having a binary ferrihydrite structure. A binary ferrihydrite catalyst precursor is also prepared by dissolving an iron salt in water. The solution is brought to a pH of substantially 10 to obtain ferrihydrite precipitate. The precipitate is then filtered and washed with distilled water and subsequently admixed with a hydroxy carboxylic acid solution. The admixture is mixed/agitated and the binary ferrihydrite precipitate is then filtered and recovered

Catalytic Conversion of Hydrocarbons to Hydrogen and High-Value Carbon

The present invention provides novel catalysts for accomplishing catalytic decomposition of undiluted light hydrocarbons to a hydrogen product, and methods for preparing such catalysts. In one aspect, a method is provided for preparing a catalyst by admixing an aqueous solution of an iron salt, at least one additional catalyst metal salt, and a suitable oxide substrate support, and precipitating metal oxyhydroxides onto the substrate support. An incipient wetness method, comprising addition of aqueous solutions of metal salts to a dry oxide substrate support, extruding the resulting paste to pellet form, and calcining the pellets in air is also discloses. In yet another aspect, a process is provided for producing hydrogen from an undiluted light hydrocarbon reactant, comprising contacting the hydrocarbon reactant with a catalyst as described above in a reactor, and recovering a substantially carbon monoxide-free hydrogen product stream. In still yet another aspect, a process is provided for catalytic decomposition of an undiluted light hydrocarbon reactant to obtain hydrogen and a valuable multi-walled carbon nanotube coproduct

Method for Making a Heavy Wax Composition

The invention includes a process of making a wax composition including: a process for making a heavy wax composition including the steps of (1) contacting a waste plastics feed containing primarily polyethylene in a pyrolysis zone at sub-atmospheric pressure, whereby at least a portion of the waste plastics feed is cracked, thereby forming a pyrolysis zone effluent including 1-olefins and n-paraffins; and (2) passing the pyrolysis zone effluent to a hydrotreating zone, for contacting with a hydrotreating catalyst at catalytic conditions

Process for Making a Lubricating Composition

The invention includes a process of making a lubricating oil composition including: a process for making a high VI lubricating oil composition including the steps of (1) contacting a waste plastics feed including mainly polyethylene in a pyrolysis zone at pyrolysis conditions, whereby at least a portion of the waste plastics feed is cracked, thereby forming a pyrolysis zone effluent including 1-olefins and n-paraffins; (2) passing the pyrolysis zone effluent, including a heavy fraction and a middle fraction, the pyrolysis effluent middle fraction including 1-olefins, to a separations zone; where the pyrolysis effluent heavy fraction portion is separated from the pyrolysis effluent middle fraction; (3) passing the pyrolysis effluent middle fraction to a dimerization zone, where at least a portion of the pyrolysis effluent middle fraction is converted to a lube oil range material; and (4) passing at least a portion of the lube oil range material to a catalytic isomerization dewaxing zone, where at least a portion of the lube oil range material is contacted with a isomerization dewaxing catalyst at isomerization dewaxing conditions thereby forming a high VI lubricating oil composition

In Situ Electrostatic Separation of Ambient PM2.5 into Source-Specific Fractions During Collection in a FRM Sampler

Coal combustion is generally viewed as a major source of PM2.5 emissions into the atmosphere. For some time, toxicologists have been asking for an exposure environment enriched with the coal combustion source specific PM{sub 2.5} to conduct meaningful exposure studies to better understand the mechanisms of the adverse health effects of coal combustion specific PM2.5 in the ambient environment. There are several unique characteristics of primary PM generated from coal combustion. In this research project, an attempt has been made to exploit some of the unique properties of PM generated from coal fired power plants to preferentially separate them out from the rest of the primary and secondary PM in the ambient environment. An existing FRM sampler used for monitoring amount of PM{sub 2.5} in the ambient air is modified to incorporate an electrostatic field. A DC corona charging device is also installed at the ambient air inlet to impart positive or negative charge to the PM. Visual Basic software has been written to simulate the lateral movement of PM as it passes through the electrostatic separator under varying operating conditions. The PM samples collected on polycarbonate filters under varying operating conditions were extensively observed for clustering and/or separation of PM in the direction parallel to the electric field. No systematic PM separation was observed under any of the operating conditions. A solution to overcome this kind of turbulence caused remixing has been offered. However, due to major programmatic changes in the DOE UCR program, there are no venues available to further pursue this research

Source Signatures of Fine Particulate Matter from Petroleum Refining and Fuel Use

Combustion experiments were carried out on four different residual fuel oils in a 732 kW boiler. Particulate matter (PM) emission samples were separated aerodynamically by a cyclone into fractions that were nominally less than and greater than 2.5 microns in diameter. However, examination of several of the samples by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM) revealed that part of the <2.5 micron fraction (PM{sub 2.5}) in fact consists of carbonaceous cenospheres and vesicular particles that range up to 10 microns in diameter. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy data were obtained at the S, V, Ni, Fe, Cu, Zn, and As Kedges, and at the Pb L-edge. Deconvolution of the x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) region of the S spectra established that the dominant molecular forms of S present were sulfate (26-84% of total S) and thiophene (13-39% of total S). Sulfate was greater in the PM{sub 2.5} samples than in the >2.5 micron samples (PM{sub 2.5+}). Inorganic sulfides and elemental sulfur were present in lower percentages. The Ni XANES spectra from all of the samples agree fairly well with that of NiSO4, while most of the V spectra closely resemble that of vanadyl sulfate (VO{center_dot}SO{sub 4}{center_dot}xH{sub 2}O). The other metals investigated (Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb) were also present predominantly as sulfates. Arsenic is present as an arsenate (As{sup +5}). X-ray diffraction patterns of the PM{sub 2.5} fraction exhibit sharp lines due to sulfate compounds (Zn, V, Ni, Ca, etc.) superimposed on broad peaks due to amorphous carbons. All of the samples contain a significant organic component, with the LOI ranging from 64 to 87 % for the PM{sub 2.5} fraction and from 88 to 97% for the PM{sub 2.5+} fraction. {sup 13}C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis indicates that the carbon is predominantly condensed in graphitic structures. Aliphatic structure was detected in only one of seven samples examined

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes