Process for Producing Clean Coal Using Chemical Pre-Treatment and High Shear Reactor

Abstract

A method of processing raw coal using activation agents (e.g., solvents and extractants) in a high shear reactor, which creates high shearing forces to break apart the coal and selectively extract and remove contaminants such as ash, sulfur, and other heavy metal impurities resulting in clean, high caloric-value coal.

1 . A method for treating coal, comprising:
 grinding coal particles into a dust-like consistency, having a diameter between about 20 μm and 80 μm;   mixing the ground coal particles with at least one extractant/solvent to produce a coal slurry;   introducing at least one activation agent, wherein the at least one activation agent selectively removes at least one impurity from the coal slurry;   introducing the coal slurry into a thin-film shear reactor, wherein the thin-film shear reactor promotes contact of the ground coal particles and the at least one activation agent; and   introducing a non-polar organic solvent to extract the coal slurry from the at least one impurity,   wherein the at least one activation agent and the non-polar organic solvent are introduced in the liquid phase; and   wherein extraction of the coal slurry from the at least one impurity yields a processed clean coal.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thin-film shear reactor is selected from a group consisting of a spinning disk reactor, a cavitation reactor, and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the activation agent is selected from a group consisting of performic acid, nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, peracetic acid, formic acid, acetic acid, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thin-film shear reactor operates in a continuous or semi-continuous manner. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thin-film shear reactor is temperature controlled. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thin-film shear reactor operates at a rotational speed between 5,000 RPMs and 20,000 RPMs. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thin-film shear reactor operates at a linear velocity of 50-180 fps. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the high shear reactor further comprises surface-to-surface gaps, having a stator gap spacing between 50 μm and 200 μm. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the high shear reactor further comprises surface-to-surface gaps having a cylinder-in-cylinder wall stator gap spacing between 20 μm and 800 μm. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the high shear reactor and the at least one activation agent promotes liquid, aqueous, and organic phases within the coal slurry. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the coal slurry within the organic phase is separated from the aqueous phase and washed and dried. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein further processing within the aqueous phase extracts at least one material. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the at least one material comprises at least one precious or semi-precious metal. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the at least one material comprises at least one of platinum, vanadium, palladium, a lanthanide and an actinide. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the processed clean coal is in the form of a liquid, a dried fine solid, or a suspended slurry. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the processed clean coal is used as an energy source. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein removal of the at least one impurity comprises an alkali treatment. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the processed clean coal is configured and selected for use in whole or in part with a group consisting of boilers, generators, fuel cells, engines, solvents, cleaning agents, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thin-film high shear reactor is a spinning disk cavitation reactor. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the thin-film high shear reactor includes a cavitation rotor that defines cavities on a face thereof.