Coal conversion

摘要

A process for the catalytic devolatilization of coal is disclosed wherein a selected mixture of preheated coal particles and hot catalyst solids is contacted with a gaseous material such as steam and/or a hydrogen-containing gas to form a high temperature suspension in a riser reactor to obtain a high initial rate of heat transfer from high temperature catalyst particles to coal particles thereby promoting high yields of devolatilized liquid hydrocarbon product. Morever, the quality of the devolatilized material is improved by the hot catalytic solids which either convert devolatilized tars and phenols to more desirable products or prevent tar and phenol formation by catalytic interception of the initial products devolatilized from the coal. Char produced by this devolatilization technique is particularly suited for subsequent gasification and other use.