METHOD FOR TREATING COAL TO OBTAIN A REFINED CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL

Abstract: Process for obtaining a refined, carbonaceous product from essentially raw coal by treating the coal with an amine solution to dissolve a portion of the coal, leaving undissolved coal and waste material such as ash. The dissolved coal is separated from the undissolved components and the amine removed to leave the refined carbonaceous extract of the invention. The undissolved coal and waste are separated and amine removed from the undissolved coal to produce a residue. Amine is advantageously recovered for further use. Prior to treatment with amine the coal may be subjected to pre-treatment such as crushing, drying or digestion in alkali metal carbonate solution. Residual amine is advantageously removed from the refined product and residue by stripping with alcohol.

Description: METHOD FOR TREATING GOAL TO OBTAIN A REFINED CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process for obtaining a refined, nearly ash-free carbonaceous extract from coal by disper ¬ sing coal in a low molecular weight, primary amine followed by sepa¬ ration of the dissolved and undissolved components and treatment with a low molecular weight liquid such as alcohol or naphtha and evaporation to remove the amine, which can be recycled for further use. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Utilization of coal as an energy source in the U.S. has been hindered by its content of sulfur and ash, which produce undesirable emissions on combustion and increase furnace maintenance, and by the fact, that, as a solid, coal is more difficult to handle than liquid or gaseous fuels. For this reason, conversion of coal into liquid or gaseous "syn¬ thetic fuels" has, and continues to be the subject of intensive research and development work. In liquefaction, the overwhelming majority of the effort has been on high pressure hydrogenatlon, sometimes called hydro- liquefaction, processes. These processes are relatively expensive, and the cost of the synthetic crude oil they would produce is in the same range ($ 20.- - 40.-/bbl) as the natural petroleum it would replace. These high costs are due to the high pressure and temperatures required, use of expensive stainless steel to resist corrosion and erosion, and the consumption of expensive hydrogen by the process. At the present time, there is a major difference in price in the U.S. between low sulfur, nearly ash-free fuels (so-called "compliance" fuels), and surface mined coal, the former selling for about four times the latter, per unit of heating value. A very attractive alternative to hydroliquefaction lies in the extraction of nearly ash-free carbonaceous solids from coal by alkaline solvents or mixtures under relatively mild conditions. One example of such a process is described by E.P. Stambaugh in U.S. Patent No. 4,121,910. This process uses aqueous alkalies at elevated temperatures (such as 270°C) and pressures, and after acid-washing, the ash content of the product is reduced to the range of Q.5 — 1.0%. The extraction of coal by. organic bases, particularly ethylene diamine and pyridine has also been described extensively in the scientific literature, but has not been used commercially. These particular solvents are relatively expensive and difficult to remove completely from the coal, so that the cost of solvent makeup is large. Coal extracts obtained with organic bases are, however, lower in ash than those produced by aqueous alkali; ash-values of 0.1 WT% or less _ have been achieved. A high degree of sulfur removal is not achieved, but since U.S. sub-bituminous coals and lignite are naturally low in sulfur, a high value, low sulfur, nearly ash-free product could be produced, which with proper selection and operation of solid-liquid separation equipment, could produce a fuel suitable for use in automotive diesel engines. An objective of this invention is to describe a commercially viable process for extraction of low rank coals with low-molecular weight primary amines to produce a nearly ash-free extract, with nearly complete solvent recovery and, therefore, reduced cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a flow diagram showing an amine extraction accord¬ ing to the invention. - " Figure 2 is a flow diagram showing a sodium carbonate pre- treatment of coal prior to amine extraction. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention a process is provided for producing a refined carbonaceous material from coal which comprises in essence treating the coal with a solution of a low molecular weight pri¬ mary aliphatic amine solvent at a temperature of about 50 to 200°C, pre¬ ferably about 60 to 150°C to dissolve a portion of the coal while leav- ing a residue of undissolved coal and insoluble waste material. The in¬ soluble waste is discarded and the solution of dissolved coal is separated from the undissolved coal which is then treated with a vaporized low mole¬ cular weight alcohol or naphtha to remove residual amine. In a separate operation the amine is also separated from the solution of dissolved coal to produce a highly refined carbonaceous product. ' OM It will of course be understood that it is highly desirable according to the present invention to recover and recycle solvents and other liquids which are used in the process. Exemplary procedures for carrying out these operatioris will become apparent from the discussion ' below. It will further be apparent that various procedures and combi¬ nations of procedures can advantageously be employed according to the pre¬ sent invention to separate the amine from the dissolved carbonaceous pro¬ duct to produce an essentially dry material while permitting re-use of the recovered amine. Although the present invention contemplates the treatment of essentially unrefined coal, and is particularly effective in treating sub-bituminous or lignite coal, to produce the high grade refined carbo¬ naceous product of the invention, several preliminary procedures are de- sirable to prepare the raw coal in order to maximize the effectiveness of the process of the invention. For example, the coal may be first crushed to a size of 20-10Q mesh and dried to reduce the moisture content to a level of about 1-2%, or less. Drying of the crushed coal may for example be carried out in a conventional dryer at a temperature of about 350-400°F, which drying procedure may involve actual burning of 10-15% of the total • amount of coal in order to provide . ' the necessary drying heat. The low molecular weight aliphatic amine employed according to the present invention is typically an amine of 1-3 carbon a ops such as methylamine. Is is especially desirable that the amine used have suf- ficient volatility to permit it to be essentially completely removed from ■ the coal by vaporizing or stripping. Preferably the boiling point of the amine will not exceed about 10Q°C. Typically 1.5 to 5 parts by weight of amine are used per one part of coal. The liquid used according to the' invention to remove the amine may be naphtha or an alcohol of from 1-4 carbon atoms such as methanol. Additionally, it may be. desirable and is considered within the contemplation of the present invention to subject the coal to a pre-treat¬ ment with about an equal amount by weight of a hot concentrated aqueous or alcoholic solution of an alkali metal carbonate such as sodium carbo- nate at a temperature of about 100° to 150°C which results in obtaining a refined extract from which the carbonate solution can be removed for re-use and a residue containing substantial coal values which can be sub¬ jected to treatment with amine solution in accordance with the procedure heretofore described. The .resulting residue which can be further treated by the amine is of reduced molecular ' weight and possesses, greater solubi¬ lity in the amine solution .thereby resulting in a greater level of extra tion and enhanced yield of refined carbonaceous material. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further understanding of the present invention, will, however, be gained by having reference to Figure 1 of the drawings which is a flow diagram of an exemplary procedure of the invention. As illustrated in Figure 1, raw coal enters a crushing mechanis 1, where it is reduced in size to about 20 to 100 mesh and is then con¬ veyed to a dryer 2 in which a substantial portion of moisture in the raw coal is removed. Air is provided to the dryer by line 4. From the dryer the crushed coal enters a cyclone 6 in which flue gas is separated off from the coal and vented at 7. The coal is removed from the cyclone and mixed with methylamine solvent which is introduced at 5 at a temperature of about 70°C in a ratio of about 2 parts solvent to one part coal and then is passed into extractor 9. In the extractor about 40%'o the coal isdissolved in methylamine solvent leaving about 60% undissolved coal and residue containing a substantial portion of gangue or ash. The entire mixture of dissolved and undissolved coal and residue is passed from the extractor to a centrifuge 10 where the dissolved and undissolved coal together with the methylamine solvent are removed at 12 while the residue containing gangue is removed " at . 11 and passed to a settler 13 for sepa¬ ration of the gangue from entrained solvent. The solvent from the settler 13 is removed at line 14 and is reunited with the stream 12 of dissolved and undissolved coal which is passed to centrifuge 16. In the centrifuge 16, the extract consisting of methylamine solvent and dissolved coal is separated and removed from the residue which consists of undissolved, ash containing coal. A wash liquid consisting of methanol is introduced at 15 to strip residual methylamine from the residue. This methanol is re- • moved at 22 and separated from entrained methylamine solvent by flashing - off the solvent at 24. The residue from the centrifuge 16 is removed at 17 to a suitable device 18 for separating further solvent such as by flashing at a -temperature of about 250°F. The heat for this separation can, for example, be provided by introducing hot methylamine vapor to assist in vaporizing any residual solvent that is present although other means for providing the required heat such as heating coils can also be employed. The solvent which is removed is ^ separated out by means of cy¬ clone 19 and the residue is passed to a stripper 20 where it is subjec¬ ted to further removal of residual solvent such as by introducing hot methanol vapor from line 25. Separation of the stripped residue from the solvent and hot methanol takes place in cyclone 26. The solvent is re¬ moved from the cyclone by line 28 and is then reunited in line 23 with methanol from previous solvent separations. The residue from the cyclone is removed from the system at 27. The extracted coal dissolved in methyl- amine solvent which was removed from the centrifuge 16 is passed to eva¬ porator 29 where the solvent is vaporized at a- temperature of about 80°F and removed from the evaporator at 49. The refined coal product together with entrained methylamine solvent is. removed from the evaporator at 30 and passed to a heat exchanger 31 where it is heated to a temperature of about 300°F. From this heat exchanger the refined material passes to flash vessel 33 where it is flashed to remove additional solvent such as, for example, by introducing hot solvent vapor at a temperature of 250° to 300°F at 32. The material removed from flash vessel 33 is passed by line 34 to cyclone 25 where the actual separation of the solvent ϊrbm the re- fined material takes place with the solvent being removed at 36 and the refined material at 37. This 'material is then passed to stripper 39 where additional methanol is added at 38. Material from the stripper 39 is removed to cyclone 41 where solvent and methanol are removed in line 43 and the stripped extract removed at 42 and passed out of 'the system at 46. The combined mixture of solvent and methanol from lines 23 and 44 are passed to a solvent recovery system 45 which separated the metha¬ nol for removal at 47. The methylamine solvent is removed from the- sys¬ tem at 48. These solvents as well as those previously extracted from the system cun be recovered for reuse in the procedures hurαtoforu But forth. The stripped extract which is removed from the system at line 46 is a very high grade, nearly moisture and ash-free carbonaceous pro¬ duct. As previously noted, the coal to be treated according to the process of the present invention can advantageously be subjected to a pre-treatment with alkali metal carbonate or hydroxide solution. Suit¬ able carbonates and hydroxides, for example, are those of sodium or po¬ tassium. This pre-treatment is by no means mandatory but does increase the level of extraction of the coal thereby resulting in an enhanced yield of refined carbonaceous product. ^ Directing attention to Figure 2, raw coal is subjected to a grinding procedure at 50 which reduces its_size to between about 20 to 40 mesh. The ground coal is then passed to a stirring tank 51 which is main tained at a temperature of- about 200°F and an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate added to the tank at 52. • In addition, recycled carbonate solu¬ tion from other or previous operations can also be introduced at this point. The mixing of the crushed coal and sodium carbonate solution re¬ sults in extractions of a portion of the coal into the carbonate solution. The contents of tank 51 are passed to a thickener 54 where the extracted coal in the sodium carbonate solution is " separated from the residue and ash. This residue which is removed at 55 from the thickener 54 can then be directed to the amine extracting procedure previously described for further extraction of refined carbonaceous material. The extracted coal and carbonate solution are removed from the thickener by line 56 and passed to a sparger 57 where they are subjected to treatment with carbon dioxide which converts a substantial portion of the alkali metal carbo¬ nate or bicarbonate. The entire material from the sparger 57 including the carbonaceous extract in solution is then passed to a thickener 58 where the extract consisting of the refined coal is removed 'at 61. The remaining material consisting primarily of water and alkali metal bicar- • bonate with a small amount of carbonate is then, treated with steam at 59 --to produce a carbonate solution which is removed at 62 for recycling to stirring tank 51 and water which is. condensed in condenser 63 and removed. The carbon dioxide which is removed from the system can be diverted into products stream 65 or recycle stream 66 for return to sparger 57. Tables 1 and 2 illustrate, respectively, the composition typi¬ cally found.at various stages in the procedures of Figures 1 and 2, based on an initial introduction of raw coal in the process of Figures 1 and 2 of 10,000 units. The ultimate primary refined product in both cases is identified as "extract". It will of course be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention contemplates that alternate procedures known • in the art may be employed in the present invention where appropriate without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. OM T A B L E STREAM H K COAL (MAF) 8000 8000 7100 7100 40 40 EXTRACT 2840 2840 RESIDUE • ' 4220 4220 GANGUE 1000 1000 888 888 352 352 536 533 3 WATER 1000 1000 81 81 81 ' 48 33 ' AIR 1816 r-_ 1 FLUE GAS 1931 SOLVENT 16138 784 15354 1093 14886 -tETHANOL 1425 143 TOTAL 10,000 10,000 1816 1931 8069* 24207 1176 392 23031 1425 6037 17762 TI.MP. °F 60 65 PRESSURE - PSIG 0 0 215 215 • _ OT £1. £*> 1*7 OS OlSd -. -R. _.εε βrεi 6Z.8Z oδ.ετ 090ετ 60 Z8T8T OOZST 9081. 08T0Z - T6ε9 ι_.εττ εβ__ 98S " ZZ Z.88Z - . £ε 691 O9oετ . 090ET εβεβτ 10 T ; 6VTT £ ' ■ ; oεs εεέ . " ZBIBT OOZST i :LBL sτsε . jLtτi ZSL 98SZZ , 18BZ 2 * S \ εε εε εε 81. ' ε ε εεε ε εεs 1 ozzt> mm 0*8Z 01.8 0. 8Z I (JYH Z A x • Λ Λ n " I S ■ " b ά 0 N K ooooz 9ε ooz ZC66T 8TO_ <._ " 6τz 786 TZ60Z 6206 ooooε ooooτ TVI ooz 786 6157 • 6 # 79Z ' 79Z OOH oooε 9ε 6TT Ϋ 7 756Z εoτ 9T 8873 τε 6τ_.z t OD C 9'τ 9'τ 9'T . 866 oooτ oooτ H ooozτ 66zςτ ςτεςτ 007 STZ_T zττ9τ 008T zτβzτ oooτ o 00Z9 00Z9 anαis • 009T 009T 009T 009T x v_ι 0008 iv z z . B I J B O z a ι a v i

Claims: ■WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A process ϊor producing a refined carbonaceous material from initial coal which comprises: (1) treating said coal with a solution of a low molecula weight primary aliphatic amine to produce a mixture comprising: (a) insoluble waste material (b) - a solution of extracted coal and undissolved residual coal (2) discarding said insoluble waste (a) and separating said- solution of extracted coal from said undissolved coal; (3) subjecting said .undissolved residual coal to a first treatment to remove a predominant amount of amine and then stripping said undissolved coal with a low molecular weight alcohol or naphtha vapor to remove remaining residual amine; (4) removing said solution of amine from said extracted coal solution to produce a' refined carbonaceous product. 2. The process of claim 1 wherein said amine is of 1-3 carbons. 3. The process of claim 1 wherein said alcohol is of 1-4 carbons. 4. The process of claim 1 wherein said amine is methyl¬ amine and said alcohol is methanol. .. 5. The process of claim 1 wherein said initial coal is subjected to a drying and crushing treatment prior to being treated with amine whereby the moisture content is reduced to about 1 to 2% • and the particle size is reduced to ' 20-100 mesh. 6. The process of claim 1 wherein said amine and alcohol or naphtha subsequent to use in steps 1-4 is recovered and recycled for further use in the process. 7. The process of claim 1 wherein prior to treatment with amine, said coal is pre-treated with a hot, concentrated solution of an alkali metal carbonate to form a solution of dissolved, extrac¬ ted coal in said carbonate solution along with undissolved waste and undissolved coal residue; said undissolved coal residue thus being separated from said waste and solution of dissolved extract and passed to step 1 for treatment with said amine. O P 8. A process for producing a refined carbonaceous material from coal which comprises: * (.1) treating said coal with methylamine solution to produce a mixture comprising: (a) insoluble waste material and (b) a solution of dissolved extracted coal and undissolved residual coal (2) discarding said insoluble waste (a) and separating said extract solution from said undissolved residual coal; (3) subjecting said, undissolved coal to a first treatment to remove a predominant amount of said methylamine and then stripping said undissolved coal with methanol to remove residual methylamine; (.4) treating said undissolved residual coal from (3) with additional hot methylamine, and thai separating methylamine from said residual coal: (5) subjecting said undissolved residual coal from (4) with hot methanol vapor to strip away remaining methylamine and then separating said residual coal from the methanol-methylamine mixture; (6) removing methylamine from said dissolved extracted coal solution to produce a refined carbonaceous product. .9. The process of claim 1 wherein said refined carbo¬ naceous product consists essentially of moisture and ash-free coal. 10. The process of claim 1 wherein the initial coal which is treated is sub-bituminous or lignite coal.

Inventors: JENKINS R
Applicants: JENKINS R
Application year: 1981
Main classification: C10G1
IPC codes: C10G1