Molten halide catalysts for coal-bitumen coprocessing under low severity conditions

Abstract

Coprocessing experiments have been carried out in a batch autoclave to study the effectiveness of molten halide catalysts consisting of ZnCl 2 and its mixtures with MoCl 5, KCl, CuCl, and SnCl 2 on the simultaneous liquefaction of a subbituminous coal and upgrading of Athabasca bitumen. The effect of different variables such as temperature, reaction time, catalyst quantity and more importantly catalyst formulation were studied. The optimum temperature and reaction time were found to be 400°C and 2 hours, respectively. Under these conditions and under 7 MPa H 2 pressure, a net coal conversion of 75% of the daf (dry ash free) coal was achieved. A combination of ZnCl 2, MoCl 5 and KCl was found to be the best catalyst for the coprocessing of Athabasca bitumen and a subbituminous coal. For this catalyst combination the liquid yield was 75.9 wt% of the daf feed. Coke and gas yields were 16.75% and 7.35% respectively. For separate processing of bitumen and coal under similar operating conditions liquid, coke and gas yields would be 56.13%, 28.70% and 15.17%, respectively.