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AssigneeFreeport-McMoRan Resource Partners, Limited Partnership
InventorsCharles W. Weston, Frederick S. Mandel
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A carbonaceous material, such as coal, is gasified through the catalytic action of an alkali metal salt. The alkali metal is provided as a sulfate which is converted to a sulfide during gasification. In one embodiment, sodium sulfate is converted to sodium sulfide at a temperature effective to form a transitory melt condition at an interface which obtains coal gasification at relatively low temperatures and material residence times for the reaction. An alkaline earth sulfate, such as a gypsum, may be concurrently converted to a sulfide during gasification. The alkali metal sulfide may then be regenerated to a sulfate for process reuse while converting the alkaline earth to a carbonate for environmentally safe disposal with concurrent recovery of valuable sulfur. The evolved carbon gases may be used for fuel, for process feed chemicals, or the like.
A method for reducing an alkaline earth metal sulfate, the steps comprising:
A process for reducing an alkaline earth metal sulfate with the attendant generation of gas, the steps comprising:
A method for reducing calcium sulfate and the attendant gasification of a solid carbonaceous fuel within a continuous reaction furnace, the steps comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.