PRODUCTION OF CARBON PRODUCTS USING A COAL EXTRACTION PROCESS

Abstract

This Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory sponsored project developed carbon products, using mildly hydrogenated solvents to extract the organic portion of coal to create synthetic pitches, cokes, carbon foam and carbon fibers. The focus of this effort was on development of lower cost solvents, milder hydrogenation conditions and improved yield in order to enable practical production of these products. This technology is needed because of the long-term decline in production of domestic feedstocks such as petroleum pitch and coal tar pitch. Currently, carbon products represents a market of roughly 5 million tons domestically, and 19 million tons worldwide. Carbon products are mainly derived from feedstocks such as petroleum pitch and coal tar pitch. The domestic supply of petroleum pitch is declining because of the rising price of liquid fuels, which has caused US refineries to maximize liquid fuel production. As a consequence, the long term trend has a decline in production of petroleum pitch over the past 20 years. The production of coal tar pitch, as in the case of petroleum pitch, has likewise declined significantly over the past two decades. Coal tar pitch is a byproduct of metallurgical grade coke (metcoke) production. In this industry, modern metcoke facilities are recycling coal tar as fuel in order to enhance energy efficiency and minimize environmental emissions. Metcoke production itself is dependent upon the production requirements for domestic steel. Hence, several metcoke ovens have been decommissioned over the past two decades and have not been replaced. As a consequence sources of coal tar are being taken off line and are not being replaced. The long-term trend is a reduction in coal tar pitch production. Thus import of feedstocks, mainly from Eastern Europe and China, is on the rise despite the relatively large transportation cost. To reverse this trend, a new process for producing carbon products is needed. The process must be economically competitive with current processes, and yet be environmentally friendly as well. The solvent extraction process developed uses mild hydrogenation of low cost oils to create powerful solvents that can dissolve the organic portion of coal. The insoluble portion, consisting mainly of mineral matter and fixed carbon, is removed via centrifugation or filtration, leaving a liquid solution of coal chemicals and solvent. This solution can be further refined via distillation to meet specifications for products such as synthetic pitches, cokes, carbon foam and fibers. The most economical process recycles 85% of the solvent, which itself is obtained as a low-cost byproduct from industrial processes such as coal tar or petroleum refining. Alternatively, processes have been developed that can recycle 100% of the solvent, avoiding any need for products derived from petroleum or coal tar.