METHOD FOR PRODUCING LIQUID CRUDE PALM-COAL OIL

Technical Field

[001] The invention relates generally to a process of coal liquefaction. In particular, the invention relates to a method for producing liquid crude palm-coal oil from bulk crude palm oil and solid coal.

Background

[002] Considering the great need of BBM fuel oil for the industrial sector, the amount of crude oil in the world is estimated to be barely sufficient to cover usage over the next 15 years.

[003] Therefore, there is a need to provide for an alternative source of crude oil.

Summary

[004] One aspect of the invention relates to a method for producing liquid crude palm-coal oil, comprising the steps of:

[005] (a) purifying a bulk crude palm oil (CPO);

[006] (b) mixing the purified CPO of step (a) with a catalyst system comprising methanol and an alkali hydroxide to form a biofuel and glycercin;

[007] (c) mixing coal powder with a catalyst system comprising an alkali hydroxide, distilled water, and sodium acetate to form a coal slurry;

[008] (d) mixing the coal slurry of step (c) with the biofuel of step (b);

[009] (e) distilling the mixture of step (d) in a catalyst system comprising iron to form a coal mixture oil (CMO) and a slurry yield; and

[010] (f) separating the CMO and slurry yield of (e) to obtain a liquid crude palm-coal oil.

[011] In various embodiments, step (a) comprises heating the bulk CPO at between 120 and 160 °C.

[012] In various embodiments, step (a) comprises heating the bulk CPO for 1 hour. [013] In various embodiments, step (a) comprises heating the bulk CPO in a vacuum tube.

[014] In various embodiments, step (a) further comprises filtering the purified CPO with mesh 200 prior to step (b).

[015] In various embodiments, in step (b) the catalyst system comprises methanol and sodium hydroxide, or methanol and potassium hydroxide.

[016] In various embodiments, the catalyst system of step (b) is obtained from heating the sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide in methanol at between 40 and 50 °C until the sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide is dissolved and precipitated.

[017] In various embodiments, step (b) comprises heating the mixture of purified CPO and catalyst system at between 40 and 50 °C.

[018] In various embodiments, in step (c) the coal powder is obtained from grinding coal solid to mesh 100-200 coal powder.

[019] In various embodiments, in step (c) the coal powder comprises 4,000-5,500 calories coal powder.

[020] In various embodiments, in step (c) the catalyst system comprises sodium hydroxide, distilled water, and sodium acetate.

[021] In various embodiments, in step (c) the coal powder and the catalyst system are mixed at a mixer speed of 400 rpm for 30 minutes until the mixture is smooth.

[022] In various embodiments, in step (d) the coal slurry of step (c) is mixed with the biofuel of step (b) in a 50:50 wt% composition.

[023] In various embodiments, in step (d) the coal slurry of step (c) is mixed with the biofuel of step (b) at a mixer speed of 400-600 rpm for about 1 hour until the mixture is smooth.

[024] In various embodiments, in step (e) the mixture of step (d) is distilled in a catalyst system comprising iron and steel. [025] In various embodiments, in step (e) the mixture of step (d) is distilled at a temperature of between 250 and 400 °C for 30 to 60 minutes.

[026] In various embodiments, in step (f) the CMO is separated from the slurry yield by a separator unit.

[027] In various embodiments, the CMO is separated by filtration in different steps using screen meshes of between 80 and 400 mesh.

[028] In various embodiments, the CMO is filtered for 2 to 4 days.

[029] In various embodiments, step (f) further comprises extracting the slurry yield to extract additional liquid crude palm-coal oil.

[030] In various embodiments, the slurry yield is extracted using a high pressure pressing machine with filter 200 mesh.

[031] In various embodiments, step (f) further comprises treating the separated liquid crude palm-coal oil with water.

[032] In various embodiments, the liquid crude palm-coal oil is treated with water by mixing the liquid crude palm-coal oil with water in a glass tube for 5-10 minutes.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[033] In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of various embodiments. In the following description, various embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the following drawings.

[034] Fig. 1 shows a process flow chart in accordance with present invention.

Description

[035] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific details and embodiments in which the invention may be practised. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practise the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The various embodiments are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some embodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments.

[036] Present disclosure relates to a method for producing a liquid coal of fuel type that can be used as an alternative crude oil to meet the world's demand. By way of the method disclosed hererin, the liquid coal can be produced in a environmental friendly manner with low emission.

[037] Use of such liquid coal may be found in applications of kiln, boiler, burner and generator set without additional installation equipment at an existing plant.

[038] In preferred embodiments, liquid crude palm oil is used as a source of raw material for producing the liquid coal. Therefore, in the present context, the liquid coal thus produced by the present method is termed as a liquid crude palm-coal oil.

[039] Accordingly, one aspect of the invention relates to a method for producing liquid crude palm-coal oil, comprising the steps of:

[040] (a) purifying a bulk crude palm oil (CPO);

[041] (b) mixing the purified CPO of step (a) with a catalyst system comprising methanol and an alkali hydroxide to form a biofuel and glycercin;

[042] (c) mixing coal powder with a catalyst system comprising an alkali hydroxide, distilled water, and sodium acetate to form a coal slurry;

[043] (d) mixing the coal slurry of step (c) with the biofuel of step (b);

[044] (e) distilling the mixture of step (d) in a catalyst system comprising iron to form a coal mixture oil (CMO) and a slurry yield; and

[045] (f) separating the CMO and slurry yield of (e) to obtain a liquid crude palm-coal oil.

[046] Each step (a) to (f) is described in details as follows, with reference to Fig. 1. [047] (a) Purifying A Bulk Crude Palm Oil (CPO)

[048] The basic bulk raw material used in the present method is bulk crude palm oil (CPO BD=0.96 to 0.98). CPO is purified by putting the CPO into a vacuum tube. This may be carried out by using an injector to introduce CPO into the vacuum tube. In this step, CPO may be heated at between 120 and 160 °C. The heating may be carried out for 1 hour, or more.

[049] By heating the bulk CPO as an initial step, free fatty acid (< 5% from total weight of production target) can be removed from the CPO by the heating (i.e. vaporization) process in vacuum tube, thereby purifying the CPO.

[050] In preferred embodiments, after the heating step the bulk CPO may be removed from the vacuum tube and collected in a storage tank for the next step. The purified CPO may be collected using a filter to sieve off dirt with a mesh 200, for example.

[051] (b) Mixing The Purified CPO Of Step (a) With A Catalyst System To Form A Biofuel And Glycercin

[052] A catalyst system comprising methanol and an alkali hydroxide is first provided.

[053] Methanol (purity 90% to 99.8%) in a blending tank may be configured to pump via a cooling pump of a thick PE/stainless steel material. The methanol may be configured to have a composition of 1 to 20 weight%, based on the total weight of bulk CPO from production target.

[054] An alkali hydroxide, such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH) may be added (0.05 to 0.3%) to the tightly sealed methanol tank. The catalyst system is then mixed at an average revolving speed of 1 ,500 rpm with a heating temperature of 40 to 50 °C until all the NaOH or KOH is dissolved in it and precipitated. The mixing process may be carried out for 1 night, although for KOH, the precipitation may not necessarily take an entire night.

[055] The preparation of the catalyst system forms metoxide, which is collected in a sealed container and care has to be taken not to inhale the vapor. [056] After obtaining the catalyst system, the purified CPO from step (a) is then mixed with the catalyst system. This mixture may be heated at temperatures of between 40 and 50 °C.

[057] The product of this step (b) is a standard fuel oil (or biofuel), industrially known as pure B100. B100 is formed on the top of the mixer and the waste, i.e. crude glycerin, is collected for other industry's need.

[058] (c) Mixing Coal Powder With A Catalyst System To Form A Coal Slurry

[059] Solid coal with 4,000 to 5,500 calories (having passed a washing process at standard moisture of <3 weight%) is first prepared. After that, the solid coal is placed in a stone crushing machine for grinding, resulting in coal powder at size 100-200 mesh. The ground coal powder may be weighed in accordance with Silo Powder tank and put into a Silo container.

[060] The coal powder may then be moved to a mixing tank (or blending tank) amounting to 1 to 30 weight%, based on the total weight of target mixer.

[061] A catalyst system used in this step comprises an alkali hydroxide, distilled water, and sodium acetate.

[062] The alkali hydroxide may be NaOH (as water solvent against coal), amounting 1 to 10 weight% based on, total weight of distilled water used for mixing the coal powder.

[063] Sodium acetate (CH ₃ COONa) is added to the NaOH and distilled water to form the catalyst system.

[064] The coal powder is added to the catalyst system comprising the NaOH, distilled water, and sodium acetate bit by bit at the size of 200 mesh, and the mixture is then mixed using a blending mixer at the speed of 400 rpm for 30 minutes until a smooth blend is obtained. This step may be termed as a manufacturing liquid coal step.

[065] (d) Mixing The Coal Slurry Of Step (c) With The Biofuel Of Step (b)

[066] The coal slurry of step (c) is mixed with the biofuel of step (b). The mixture may be comprised of a 50:50 weight% composition of each component. [067] The mixture may be mixed in a blending tube using a mixer at 400 to 600 rpm speed for 60 minutes until a smooth blend is obtained.

[068] (e) Distilling The Mixture Of Step (d) In A Catalyst System To Form A Coal Mixture Oil (CMO) And A Slurry Yield

[069] The smooth blend obtained from step (d) may be fed to a distillation reactor tank. A catalyst system comprising iron (Fe) and steel, for example, Fe mixed with steel type C45 with material composition of 55% iron and 45% steel, may be also fed or placed in the distillation reactor tank. The mixture of the blend and the Fe catalyst system is then heated at temperatures ranging from 250 to 400 °C. The heating may be carried out for 30 to 60 minutes.

[070] During the distillation step, three categories of products are obtained:

[071] (I) Liquid coal type (i.e. the desired liquid crude palm-coal oil, which is a clean and equivalence to a synthetic oil)

[072] (II) Fuel gas methane

[073] (III) Slurry yield in the disposal of low reactor tank.

[074] For toxic gases such as NOx, CO and CO2, they may be discarded to the air when produced after being sprayed by water spraying so that the released gases are clean and no longer hazardous.

[075] (f) Separating The CMO And Slurry Yield Of (e) To Obtain A Liquid Crude Palm- Coal Oil

[076] In a final step, separation by a separating unit is carried out on the products of step (e) comprising the CMO and slurry yield. For example, the separation may be carried out via filtration with screen of 7 stages i.e. screen 80 mesh to 400 mesh. In order to obtain cleaner result, the CMO may be filtered and precipitated for 2 to 4 days. The top stream of the separating unit may be collected as the final product of clean liquid crude palm-coal oil and the remaining yield in the tank is thrown out through slurry pump for collection. [077] An additional extracting step may be carried out on the slurry yield, since the slurry yield may still contain residual yield substance of solid coal. The slurry yield may be extracted using a high pressure pressing machine, completed with filter 200 mesh stainless steel.

[078] The two additional products obtained from this extraction step are as follows:

[079] (I) Dry solid yield, termed as upgrading coal.

[080] (II) Liquid Crude Palm-Coal Oil. This liquid crude palm-coal oil may form additional volume for the liquid crude palm-coal oil obtained from the separating unit, thereby increasing yield of the entire process.

[081] An additional cleaning step may be carried out after the separation step and/or extraction step. The liquid crude palm-coal oil may be treated using clean water in a glass tube and mixed for 5 to 10 minutes. A separation can be seen between the water and the coal oil resulting from coal liquefaction. Finally, water may be drained away through a bottom disposal pipe until the level interface between the top coal oil and bottom water.

[082] By "comprising" it is meant including, but not limited to, whatever follows the word "comprising". Thus, use of the term "comprising" indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, but that other elements are optional and may or may not be present.

[083] By "consisting of" is meant including, and limited to, whatever follows the phrase "consisting of. Thus, the phrase "consisting of indicates that the listed elements are required or mandatory, and that no other elements may be present.

[084] The inventions illustratively described herein may suitably be practiced in the absence of any element or elements, limitation or limitations, not specifically disclosed herein. Thus, for example, the terms "comprising", "including", "containing", etc. shall be read expansively and without limitation. Additionally, the terms and expressions employed herein have been used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. Thus, it should be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments and optional features, modification and variation of the inventions embodied therein herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention.

[085] By "about" in relation to a given numerical value, such as for temperature and period of time, it is meant to include numerical values within 10% of the specified value.

[086] The invention has been described broadly and generically herein. Each of the narrower species and sub-generic groupings falling within the generic disclosure also form part of the invention. This includes the generic description of the invention with a proviso or negative limitation removing any subject matter from the genus, regardless of whether or not the excised material is specifically recited herein.

[087] Other embodiments are within the following claims and non- limiting examples. In addition, where features or aspects of the invention are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.

[088] In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, , particular embodiments will now be described by way of the following non-limiting examples.

Examples

[089] Basic characteristics of Coal

[090] The classification of coal is based on coal level, which commonly becomes general indicator to determine the proposed usage. For example, steam boiler coal or thermal coal, also called steam coal, is widely used for electricity fueled generator, general burning as in brick or roof tile industry, and cement industry, whereas metallurgical coal or cooking coal is used for the purpose of iron and steel industry and chemical industry. These two types of coal are included in bituminous coal. Anthracite coal is mainly used for sintering process of mineral ore, manufacture of electric electrode, burning of limestone, and for making smokeless briquettes.

[091] For its utilization, the quality of coal must first be known. This is intended that the specification of machine and equipment utilizing coal as the fuel conforms to the quality of coal to be used, so that such machines can function to the optimum level and can be durable.

[092] In general, quality parameters of coal to be used in this invention of liquid coal include:

[093] (I) calories 4,500 to 6,000 kcal/kg

[094] (II) moisture rate < 3% from total weight

[095] (III) standard content of volatile matter

[096] (IV) standard content of ash

[097] (V) carbon content 40 to 46%

[098] (VI) sulfur content < 1 %

[099] (VII) size 2 to 50 mm

[0100] (VIII) standard level of grind ability

[0101] Other than the above-mentioned parameters, there are other parameters such as analysis of substances existing in ash (S1O2, AI2O3, P2O5. Fe203, etc), analysis of composition sulfur (pyritic sulfur, sulfate sulfur, organic sulfur), and ash melting point.

[0102] Taking an example to coal steam powered electric generator, the effects of the above parameters against electric generator equipment are as follows:

[0103] (I) Calories (Calorific Value or CV, cal/gram unit or kcal/kg). CV is much affecting the operation of pulverized ore mill, coal pipe, and windbox, as well as burner. The higher the CV, the lower coal's flowing every hour, so that the speed of coal feeder must be adjusted. For coal with similar rate of moisture and grind ability level, thus high CV causes pulverization to operate below its normal capacity (according to design) or in other words its operating ratio becomes lower.

[0104] (II) Moisture content (percentage unit). The result of analysis for moisture is divided into free moisture (FM) and inherent moisture (IM). The total of the two is called total moisture (TM). Moisture rate affects the amount of primary air used. High moisture rated coal will require primary air more to dry the coal at the temperature set by output pulverization.

[0105] (III) Volatile Matter or VM (percentage unit). VM content affects the perfect burning and fire intensity. Such evaluation is based on the ratio between the content of fixed carbon and volatile matter, which is called fuel ratio. The higher the fuel ratio, the more total carbon is in unburned coal. If the rate from the comparison is more than 1 :2, then the ignition is not good in that it causes the burning speed to decrease.

[0106] (IV) Ash content (percentage unit). Ash content will be taken together with the burning gas through burning chamber and conversion area in a form of fly ash which amounts to up to 80% and basic ash 20%. The higher the ash rate, in general it will affect the respective rate of fouling, erosion, corrosion of the equipment it channels.

[0107] (V) Content of Fixed Carbon or FC (percentage unit). Carbon rate is obtained by deducting the number 100 with the amount of water content (moisture), carbon rate and the amount of volatile matter, this rate is getting more along with the coal level. Carbon rate and total volatile matter are used in the calculation to evaluate the fuel quality, i.e. in form of fuel ratio as described above.

[0108] (VI) Sulfur content (percentage unit). Sulfur content in coal is divided into pyritic sulfur, sulfate sulfur and organic sulfur. However, in general, the evaluation of sulfur content in coal is declared in Total Sulfur (TS). Sulfur content is affecting the corrosion level on the cool side occurring in the air heating element, especially when the work temperature is lower than the point of sulfur condensed vapor, besides affecting the effectiveness of catching ash on the electrostatic precipitator.

[0109] (VII) Coal size. The size of coal grain is limited to the distance between pulverized coal or dust coal and lump coal. The most pulverized coal size s maximum 3 mm, while the most lump coal is up to 50 mm size.

[0110] (VIII) Hardgroove Grindability Index or HGI. HGI is a parameter that states the level of convenience for the crushed coal. The higher the value of HGI, the easier it is for the crushed coal. This HGI parameter can also be used to express the degree of hardness of coal. The lower the value, the harder the HGI coal is.

[0111] Characteristic of Chemical Reagents Used in Present Method

[0112] In the mixture for the manufacturing process of liquid coal with the chemicals and the catalyst systems, certain chemical reagents have been proposed by taking into consideration some of the following aspects:

[0113] (I) Viscosity of basic material of liquid coal

[0114] (II) Homogeneity of coal material and basic oil material or solvent

[0115] (III) Perfect burning result so as to make the burning more stable

[0116] (IV) Low emission from the remaining burning result

[0117] (V) Calories per kg unit maintained until it does not reduce the calories content existing in the source of coal used

[0118] (VI) Resistance of mixture against room temperature of 25 to 30 °C.

[0119] (VII) Resistance of mixture against pressure

[0120] (VIII) Resistance of mixture against vaporization

[0121] (IX) Basic characteristics of mixture, which is environmental friendly

[0122] The selected chemical reagents are: [0123] (I) NaOH (sodium hydroxide) at 98 to 99% rate as acid solution with the nature and characteristic as follows:

[0124] Format and color of sodium hydroxide is solid white and many are available in flags form. Sodium hydroxide does not cause corrosion against iron and copper, but other metal such as aluminum, zinc and titanium will be damaged when contacted with a mixture of NaOH. In the combination of sodium hydroxide and aluminum as metal catalyst, the basic concept used to dissolve coal with distillated water so as having a strong compound against the effect of such mixture.

[0125] (II) ChbCOONa (sodium acetate) at 98 to 99% rate as catalyst material with the nature and characteristic as follows:

[0126] Format and color of sodium acetate is solid white and many are available in powder form. The combination of sodium hydroxide and sodium acetate as the basic concept of formulation used to form methane (CH-t) and water in the liquefying process of coal with NaOH.

[0127] (III) CH3OH (methanol) at 99% rate as solvent based with the nature and characteristics as follows:

[0128] Format and colour of methanol is clear white liquid, flammable at temperature of 61 °C, vaporizable and environmental friendly. As the basic concept the formulation used to form solvent in the process of coal liquefaction, so that coal has the content and burning characteristic that is stable and high calories and the effect of emission of burning results is more environmental friendly.

[0129] (IV) Based Oil CPO / B100. The type of basic material of crude palm oil (bulk) usually used as basic material for cooking oil with BD= 0.95 to 0.98% in bulk form. And it is made with standard process for trans-esterification in order to produce Bio Diesel oil (B100) with standard specs B100 BD=0.85, 85-0.86, flashpoint 96 °C.

[0130] Chemical Reaction Occurring in the Process of Liquid Coal [0131] In step (c):

[0132] C137H97O9NS defines for bituminous coal (CHONS)

[0133] CHONS (s) + NaOH (s) + CHsCOONa (s) + H2O (1 ) = Coal Slurry.

[0134] From sulfur and nitrogen contents and functioning as dissolving coa| and water compound, sodium acetate reacts with NaOH to form methane/CH4 gas and add binding link of hydrocarbon from coal and water to binding liquid hydrocarbon that can be burnt at heating temperature of above 350 °C.

[0135] Type of liquid coal produced herein consists of three types, as follows:

[0136] (I) Liquid coal, CP-COAL OIL (CP denotes crude palm); (Synthetic fuel /heavy oil with

BD=0.86 to 0.87)

[0137] (II) Liquid coal (Synthetic fuel /light oil with BD=0.76 to 0.78)

[0138] (III) Yield Slurry (Upgrading Coal)

[0139] Brief Outline of Formulation of Process and Formulation of Manufacturing CP-COAL OIL (Target 1 Liter CP-COAL OIL)

[0140] Solid coal (4,000 to 6,000 calories) are crushed to form coal powder (150 to 200 gram).

[0141] Catalyst system comprising NaOH (10 gram) and CHaCOONa (10 gram) is provided.

[0142] Coal slurry is obtained by mixing coal powder (300 gram) with NaOH, CHsCOONa and distilled water (300 gram).

[0143] Crude palm oil (CPO) (300 ml) is purified by removing free fatty acid.

[0144] A catalyst system comprising methanol and KOH is provided.

[0145] Biofuel is obtained by mixing purified CPO with the catalyst system.

[0146] A coal mixture oil (CMO) containing liquid crude palm-coal oil is obtained by mixing the biofuel (50% weight) with the coal slurry (50% weight), followed by distillation using a catalyst mixture of 55% iron and 45% black steel.