Invention for Systems for the production of advanced carbon materials at carbon sources

Invented by Charles Agee Atkins, Garrett W. Lindemann, Matthew Targett, Carbon Holding Intellectual Properties LLC, Carbon Holdings Intellectual Properties LLC

The Carbon Holding Intellectual Properties LLC, Carbon Holdings Intellectual Properties LLC invention works as follows

The method can include removing a sample of coal from a particular location, performing a spectrum analysis on it, determining at least partially the desired advanced materials, extracting coal from that location, beneficiating coal, and then processing the beneficiated coal to produce at least part of the desired advanced materials.

Background for Systems for the production of advanced carbon materials at carbon sources

Coal is mined for many purposes and has been for thousands of year. Since the Industrial Revolution, coal is primarily used to produce heat and power for homes, industries, and transportation. In the early industrial revolution, coal was used as a fuel for trains. However, the invention of automobiles and the discovery large petroleum reserves near the turn-of-the-20th century led to a shift in preference for liquid petroleum fuels.

The research on coal did continue, but the chemistry behind coal was understood at least by the beginning of the 20th century. The goal was to replace petroleum with liquid fuels derived from coal. Around 1925, the Fischer-Tropsch Process was developed in Germany. It converted gasified coal to liquid hydrocarbons. Sasol, an important South African company, was one of the commercial interests that built on this technology. Sasol focused its work on the catalytic cracking of solid coal into liquid transportation fuels. But research on petroleum continued to advance, and it was never economically feasible to use coal to produce liquid transport fuels in large quantities.

In 1973, the United States Department of Energy was prompted by the oil crisis to re-initiate research into coal-based transportations fuels as an alternative to petroleum-based gasoline. Over the course of 20 years, billions were spent on an effort to crack coal. Oil prices fell steadily for almost 20 years as the Department of Energy invested in these research projects. The falling petroleum price eventually dampened the motivation for these government programs, and large-scale production from coal of transportation fuels was never fully realized.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, China became the hotbed of coal liquefaction. China, with its vast coal reserves and relative lack of oil reserves, was interested in developing liquid fuels to meet the needs of an increasingly mobile population. China’s research on coal liquefaction coincided with the development of electric vehicles, green energy, and a growing environmental consciousness. It does not seem likely that large-scale use of coal as transportation fuels can be achieved.

Coal has been used to make many other products throughout history. Many novel, high-value products have been developed using coal feedstock and the byproducts produced from its modification and combustion as well the extraction of the carbon. The second, third, and fourth generation products and byproducts of coal may be more valuable as inputs in the manufacturing of shingles and asphalt, mascara, organic oils, solvents, fuels, graphene and carbon fiber, dialysis and air filters, and water filters. “Coal derived products are used in many industries, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, healthcare, cosmetics and construction.

While improvements are being explored in the derivation and production of fuels from coal, new methods and equipment for processing the productive elements, such as the carbon, is needed. These elements can be used to produce existing and new intermediate and end-use material. As carbon-based technology continues to advance, it is necessary to develop carbon materials with new and different properties and characteristics.

The present disclosure includes methods for producing advanced carbon materials that include extracting coal samples from locations, performing spectral analyses on the coal samples to determine a hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, a contamination concentration in the sample and a water concentration in the sample; determining at least one of one or several desired advanced materials based on at least one of one or two of the hydrogen-to carbon ratio, the concentration in the sample of a contaminants, and the water concentration in the sample; extracting coal from the location and beneficiating it

In some cases, performing an analysis based on spectral data can involve performing mass spectrometry or Raman spectroscopy. The amount of coal that is being used for beneficiation can be reduced by removing the desired amount of water. The amount of coal that is used to benefit the environment can be reduced by a certain amount. The amount of coal that is beneficial can be reduced by a certain amount. The advanced carbon material may have a lower hydrogen to carbon than the sample. The advanced carbon material may have a ratio of hydrogen to carbon less than 0.2. The process of processing the coal beneficiated can include capturing and producing H2. “The advanced carbon material may include carbon fiber, graphene or mesophase pitches, as well as activated carbon.

The method of producing advanced carbon materials can include extracting coal samples from a particular location, performing a spectrum analysis to determine a hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, a contamination concentration in the sample and a water concentration in the sample. Characterizing one or several processes based, at least in part, on the hydrogen-to carbon ratio, the contaminant concentration in the sample and the water concentration in the sample.

In some cases, the process can be performed by reducing the ratio of hydrogen to carbon in at least a portion of the coal. The one or multiple processes can remove a desired quantity of contaminants from coal. The advanced carbon material may include graphene or activated carbon, as well as carbon fiber. The advanced carbon material may have a carbon to hydrogen ratio less than 0.2.

The method of producing advanced carbon materials can include beneficiating coal in a processing plant to remove desired amounts of impurities, processing this coal to produce advanced carbon materials or precursors, capturing byproducts while processing or beneficiating the coal and then repeating the process of processing or beneficiating the coal with the byproducts captured to produce advanced carbon materials or precursors. Byproducts in some cases can include CO2 or H2. “The advanced carbon material may include graphene and activated or carbon fibers.

The method of producing advanced carbon materials can include performing one of more processes at a processing plant to reduce the hydrogen to carbon of atleast some of the coal. Capturing one or multiple byproducts while performing these processes at the facility, then performing another process on a different amount coal at the facility, using the captured byproducts, to reduce the hydrogen to carbon of atleast some of the coal. Byproducts in some cases can include CO2 or H2. The hydrogen-to-carbon ratio of some coal from the first or the second amount was reduced to 0.2 or less by performing one or more processes.

Although coal liquefaction has been studied for over a century and coal has been used to make other products, it has always been emphasized that the coal must have a higher hydrogen to carbon ratio in order to create these products. The ability to create carbon-based products with a lower ratio of hydrogen to carbon than the original coal is still an open question. Carbon-based technologies are gaining popularity in recent years. Rapid developments have been made in the commercialization and development of advanced carbon materials, such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and materials with very low hydrogen to carbon ratios. These advanced materials are used more and more in high-volume applications. There is a demand for large quantities of advanced materials that can be supplied quickly.

As described below, advanced materials made from mined coal can be produced. Certain raw coal compositions, however, may be better suited for producing advanced carbon products. Some types of coal may contain contaminants or impurities that are desirable to be included in the advanced carbon materials formed from coal. Other compositional characteristics of coal such as the water content, hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, or other compositional features can be used to make it more suitable for forming advanced carbon materials. Moreover, certain compositional characteristics of coal, like impurity levels, can improve one or more desirable qualities of an advanced carbon material formed from coal.

Accordingly in some cases the methods described herein for forming advanced materials or products containing carbon can include analyzing coal’s composition, such as via spectroscopy or spectrometry or chemical methods or gravimetry. In fact, any method for determining coal’s composition can be used, including the elemental composition and concentration of impurities. In some cases the composition of raw coal can also be analysed in situ. The raw coal can then be analysed before it is extracted for production.

In some cases, cores may be taken from the raw coal to perform an analysis. As an example, small pieces of coal from a seam of coal can be extracted in the form drilled cores and analyzed in accordance with the present invention. Cores can sometimes be taken from a single location within the seam. In some cases, cores are extracted from different locations along the coal seam to detect compositional changes. “While drilled cores from raw coal can be extracted in situ or on the ground, any combination of methods can be used to extract raw coal samples at one or more locations.

In some cases, information obtained from analyzing one of more samples can be used to determine the desired advanced carbon material (or materials) that will be produced from the unmined, raw, in-situ coal. In some cases, the concentrations of water, hydrogen, carbon or the ratio of hydrogen to carbon in the coal can be used as a way to determine the desired advanced carbon materials. It can be determined in some examples that raw coal is capable of forming one or more advanced materials. In this case, the described processes can be used to form any or all the desired advanced materials.

In some cases, raw coal can also be extracted underground or from the earth. Raw coal can be processed in one or more ways, as described below, to produce an advanced carbon material. This processing can take place at a facility such as one that is located at the extraction site or adjacent thereto. A processing facility, for example, can be located on the exact same site where the raw coal was extracted. The processing facility may be within 50 miles of the extraction site, or it could be within 25 miles. It can also lie within 10 miles or 5 miles. The coal is then beneficiated to remove the desired amount of impurities such as mercury, arsenic and cadmium. Other heavy metals can also be removed, along with water and volatile compounds. Beneficiation can sometimes include heating coal to remove impurities. “Beneficiating coal can also reduce the hydrogen to carbon ratio (H:C).

The beneficiated coal may be further processed to produce activated carbon or other advanced carbon materials. Processing can involve subjecting beneficiated coals to a pyrolysis, a direct liquefaction, an indirect liquefaction, or a membrane-based process. These processes can create byproducts such as solid char and coal liquid extract. These can then be further processed to produce useful materials such as advanced carbon materials. Solid char, for example, can be converted to activated carbon and coal liquid extract to aromatic compounds like benzene, paraxylene or pitch. “The coal liquid extract can be further processed to produce advanced carbon materials, such as graphene or resins.

In some cases, the processing of coal (for example, the beneficiated coal) can result in pitch, resins, advanced carbon materials, and/or precursors to advanced carbon materials that have a lower H:C than the H:C of raw coal before processing. Raw coal, for example, can have a H:C of between 1 and 0.6 in some cases, or even 0.8. The resultant advanced material or precursor may have a ratio of hydrogen to carbon that is less than 0.5, less about 0.2 or less about 0.1 after being treated according to the method described herein. The low hydrogen-to-carbon ratio achieved by beneficiation or other processes described herein may improve the yields of resin, pitch or other coal products, eliminate the need for external hydrogen sources during one or more steps of processing, and/or decrease the amount of CO2 produced during the disclosed processes.

In some embodiments, pitch or materials can be produced using the described processes. They can then be processed to produce a mesophase material, if desired or needed. The pitch can be processed to create one or more advanced materials made of carbon. The pitch can, for example, be spun into carbon fibers. The pitch can also be processed into synthetic graphite. This can then be further processed to produce or form synthetic graphene with desired physical, chemical and/or electric properties. These advanced carbon materials may be further processed or delivered to third-parties for use in manufacturing, for instance. One or more advanced materials can be combined into secondary materials, such as carbon reinforced polymers.

Click here to view the patent on Google Patents.