High liquid yields from bituminous coal via hydropyrolysis with dispersed catalysts

In this paper the authors report the results of catalytic hydropyrolysis experiments in which greater than 60% daf coal basis yields of tar are produced with weight ratios of tar to gases up to 80% higher than observed in an uncatalyzed reaction. The work has also shown that dispersed sulfided molybdenum and hydrous titanium oxide (HTO) catalysts coated directly on the coal are superior to Lewis acids and alumina supported hydrogenation catalysts in terms of tar yields achieved and reduction of the amount of light hydrocarbon gases produced. In addition, they have performed two-stage hydropyrolysis tests which demonstrate that the tar produced is readily upgraded.