Gasification of a carbonaceous material

摘要

The invention provides methods and apparatus ultimately for converting a carbonaceous material to liquid hydrocarbons suitable for use, for example, as transportation fuels. In a first step the carbonaceous material is converted to a syngas product, and in subsequent steps the syngas product is converted to the desired liquid hydrocarbons. In one embodiment, coal and methane are converted to syngas, and the syngas product is converted to hydrocarbons through a methanol intermediate. An example use for the methods and apparatus of the invention is in the preparation of aviation fuels.

主权项

1. A water-neutral process for liquefying a carbonaceous material and forming hydrocarbons, the process comprising:
(a) combining the carbonaceous material with methane and water in a gasification reactor under conditions sufficient to convert the carbonaceous material, methane, and water to H2 and CO; (b) combining the H2 and CO from (a) with a catalyst in a methanol reactor under conditions sufficient to convert the H2 and CO to methanol; (c) combining the methanol from (b) with a catalyst in a reactor under conditions sufficient to convert the methanol to hydrocarbons and water; and (d) recycling the water formed in (c) to the gasification reactor to react with additional carbonaceous material and methane,wherein any CO2 generated in step (a) is converted to methanol in step (b).