Apparatus for converting coal to hydrocarbons
First Claim
1. An apparatus for forming liquid hydrocarbons from solid coal comprising:
- means for pulverizing the coal to provide a particulate coal feed;
means for extruding said coal feed to provide a hollow tube of compressed coal, said extruding means including a support tube for externally supporting said coal tube;
means for extruding a clay feed to provide a hollow tube of compressed clay supported inside of said coal tube;
means for burning a combustible fuel inside of said clay tube, the temperature of said combustion being sufficient to fire said extruded clay and pyrolyze said extruded coal to produce hydrocarbon gases and coal char, said support tube having holes for releasing said hydrocarbon gases, and,means for cooling said hydrocarbon gases to provide a liquid hydrocarbon product.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for forming liquid hydrocarbons from solid coal. The coal is pulverized to provide a particulate coal feed, which is then extruded to provide a hollow tube of compressed coal supported inside of a support tube. A clay feed is extruded to provide a hollow tube of compressed clay supported inside of the coal tube and a combustible fuel is burned inside of the clay tube. The temperature of combustion is sufficient to fire the extruded clay and pyrolyze the extruded coal to produce hydrocarbon gases and coal char. The support tube has holes for releasing the hydrocarbon gases, which contain suspended particles formed during combustion. The suspended particles are removed from the hydrocarbon gases to provide clean gases, which are passed through an ionizing chamber to ionize at least a portion thereof. The ionized gases are then passed through a magnetic field to separate them from each other according to their molecular weight. Selected portions of at least some of the separated gases are mixed, and the mixed gases are cooled to provide at least one liquid hydrocarbon product of predetermined composition. Portions of the separated gases may also be mixed with the coal char and other input streams, such as waste plastics, and further treated to provide other hydrocarbon products.
233 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus for forming liquid hydrocarbons from solid coal comprising:
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means for pulverizing the coal to provide a particulate coal feed; means for extruding said coal feed to provide a hollow tube of compressed coal, said extruding means including a support tube for externally supporting said coal tube; means for extruding a clay feed to provide a hollow tube of compressed clay supported inside of said coal tube; means for burning a combustible fuel inside of said clay tube, the temperature of said combustion being sufficient to fire said extruded clay and pyrolyze said extruded coal to produce hydrocarbon gases and coal char, said support tube having holes for releasing said hydrocarbon gases, and, means for cooling said hydrocarbon gases to provide a liquid hydrocarbon product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus for converting solid coal and a solid plastic material to a liquid fuel comprising:
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means for pulverizing the coal to provide a particulate coal feed; means for extruding said coal feed to provide a hollow tube of compressed coal, said extruding means including a support tube for externally supporting said coal tube; means for extruding a clay feed to provide a hollow tube of compressed clay supported inside of said coal tube; means for burning a combustible fuel inside of said clay tube, the temperature of said combustion being sufficient to fire said extruded clay and pyrolyze said extruded coal to produce hydrocarbon gases and coal char, said support tube having holes for releasing said hydrocarbon gases; means for pulverizing said coal char to provide powdered char; means for providing a combustible liquid by heating a solid plastic material; and
,means for dispersing said powdered char in said combustible liquid to provide a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for extruding and rotating an extrudable material to form a tubular structure, said apparatus comprising:
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a first tube having an inside surface with at least one spiral corrugation; a nozzle for extruding said material into said first tube such that said corrugation causes the extruded material to rotate and form a rotating tubular structure having a corresponding convolution on an outer surface and a hollow interior chamber defined by an inner surface of the tubular structure; and a second tube arranged to receive the tubular structure from said first tube, said second tube being arranged to rotate relative to said first tube and having a tapered section with an inner surface of decreasing taper from inlet to outlet such that said convolution is compressed and the rotational speed of the tubular structure is increased by rotation of said second tube. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification