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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT STUDIES ON THE BATTELLE HYDROTHERMAL COAL PROCESS
Citation:
Stambaugh, E., J. Miller, H. Conkle, E. Mezey, AND R. Smith. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT STUDIES ON THE BATTELLE HYDROTHERMAL COAL PROCESS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-85/023.
Description:
The report gives results of a study to improve the economic viability of the Battelle Hydrothermal (HT) Coal Process by reducing the costs associated with liquid/solid separation and leachant regeneration. Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate process improvements for (1) separating the spent leachant and residual sodium from the coal product, (2) reducing the moisture content of the coal product, and (3) regenerating the leachant. In addition, coal desulfurization experiments were performed and economic studies were conducted to evaluate the impacts of process improvements on coal desulfurization costs. Using countercurrent washing, the optimum washing circuit was composed of four disc filter stages, six belt filter stages to separate spent leachant and sodium from the clean coal, and a centrifuge stage to dewater the coal. Several regenerates were found to be effective in removing greater than about 85% of the total sulfide sulfur from the spent leachant: iron carbonate was the leading candidate.