Stabilized slurry and process for preparing same

A process for preparing a carbonaceous slurry which is comprised of at least about 60 volume percent of solid carbonaceous material and which has a Brookfield viscosity at a solids content of 70 volume percent, ambient temperature, and ambient pressure, of less than 5,000 centipoise, comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a carbonaceous compact, wherein:
• 1. said compact has a specific surface area of from about 0.8 to about 4.0 square meters per cubic centimeter and an interstitial porosity of less than about 20 volume percent,
• 2. said compact comprises finely divided solid carbonaceous particles,
• 3. from about 5 to about 70 weight percent of said solid carbonaceous particles are of colloidal size, being smaller than about 3.0 microns,
• 4. at least about 85 weight percent of said solid carbonaceous particles in the compact have a particle size less than about 300 microns, and
• 5. said compact of finely divided solid carbonaceous particles has a particle size distribution substantially in accordance with the following formula:
• ##EQU8## wherein:
• (a) CPFT is the cumulative percent of said solid carbonaceous material finer than a certain specified particle size D, in volume percent;
• (b) k is the number of component distributions in the consist and is at least 1;
• (c) X.sub.j is the fractional amount of the component j in the consist, is less than or equal to 1.0, and the sum of all of the X.sub.j 's in the consist is 1.0;
• (d) n is the distribution modulus of fraction j and is greater than about 0.001;
• (e) D is the diameter of any particle in the consist and ranges from about 0.05 to about 1180 microns;
• (f) D.sub.s is the diameter of the particle in fraction j, measured at 1% CPFT on a plot of CPFT versus size D, is less than D.sub.L, and is greater than 0.05 microns;
• (g) D.sub.L is the diameter of the size modulus in fraction j, measured by sieve size or its equivalent, and is from about 10 to about 1180 microns;
• and
• (b) mixing from about 60 to about 80 parts, by volume, of said carbonaceous compact with from about 20 to about 40 parts, by volume, of liquid, wherein:
• 1. at least two liquids are mixed with said carbonaceous compact,
• 2. at least about 90 weight percent of the total amount of liquid mixed with said carbonaceous compact is water, and
• 3. from about 0.1 to about 10 weight percent of the total amount of liquid mixed with said carbonaceous compact is non-aqueous liquid.