Patent ID: 7892303

Claim:
A coal reactor for transforming coals, containing volatile matter, into two different fuel products, a clean burning gas fuel, derived from the coal volatile matter, and a solid coke fuel, and comprising: a source of coal chunks containing volatile matter; a coke receiver; a receiver of volatile matter derived fuel; an ODD reaction chamber and enclosure, and comprising a lower refuel end, a gas inlet near said refuel end, and an upper gas and coke outlet end; said gas and coke outlet end, of said ODD reaction chamber, connecting into said receiver of volatile matter derived fuel, and also connecting separately into said coke receiver; a refuel mechanism means for transferring a refuel quantity of coal chunks, from said source of coal chunks, into the lower refuel end of said ODD reaction chamber, repeatedly, so that said ODD reaction chamber is largely filled with a bed of coal chunks, and so that said coal chunks move through said ODD reaction chamber toward said upper gas and coke outlet end, and pass into the connected coke receiver; whereby a flow of coal chunks, and associated coal volatile matter, is created passing through said ODD reaction chamber; hot gas generator means for creating a flow of hot molecular oxygen containing gas, through said bed of coal chunks, within said ODD reaction chamber, said hot gas comprising, a portion of different gases selected from nitrogen, carbon dioxide, steam, or combinations thereof, and a portion of molecular oxygen, so that the molecular oxygen mole fraction in said hot molecular oxygen containing gas is less than the molecular oxygen mole fraction in air at sea level, and so that the flow of molecular oxygen, into said ODD reaction chamber, is less than stoichiometric relative to the flow of coal volatile matter, into said ODD reaction chamber, and further so that the temperature of said hot molecular oxygen containing gas at least equals the rapid devolatilization temperature of said coal chunks; wherein said flow of hot molecular oxygen containing gas is connected into the gas inlet end of said ODD reaction chamber; whereby oxidative destructive distillation, of the coal chunks within said ODD reaction chamber, takes place, and creates two coal derived products, a devolatilized solid coke product, which passes into said connected coke receiver and a partially oxidized volatile matter product which flows into said connected receiver of volatile matter derived fuel accompanied by the diluent portions of said hot, oxygen containing gas.