Fuels briquettes

Petroleum refining establishments produce gasoline, fuel oils, lubricants and other products from crude petroleum. Related industries include production of asphalt and tar mixtures for paving and roofing applications coke, fuel briquette, powdered and packaged fuel production, and scrubbing and distribution of natural gas. 

Solvent-Refined Coal Process. In the 1920s the anthracene oil fraction recovered from pyrolysis, or coking, of coal was utilized to extract 35—40% of bituminous coals at low pressures for the purpose of manufacturing low cost newspaper inks (113). Tetralin was found to have higher solvent power for coals, and the I. G. Farben Pott-Broche process (114) was developed, wherein a mixture of cresol and tetralin was used to dissolve ca 75% of brown coals at 13.8 MPa (2000 psi) and 427°C. The extract was filtered, and the filtrate vacuum distilled. The overhead was distilled a second time at atmospheric pressure to separate solvent, which was recycled to extraction, and a heavier liquid, which was sent to hydrogenation. The bottoms product from vacuum distillation, or solvent-extracted coal, was carbonized to produce electrode carbon. Filter cake from the filters was coked in rotary kilns for tar and oil recovery. A variety of liquid products were obtained from the solvent extraction-hydrogenation system (113). A similar process was employed in Japan during Wodd War II to produce electrode coke, asphalt (qv), and carbonized fuel briquettes (115). 

In a critical survey of binders for fuel briquettes, Walters [42,43] notes that hundreds of binders have been patented, investigated or used. Three... 

P.L. Waters, Binders for fuel briquettes — a critical survey, Technical Communication No. 51, CSIRO, Division of Mineral Chemistry, N.S.W., Australia, 1969, 75 pp. 

The process utilises harmful industrial residues to produce a charcoal, which can be processed into activated carbon, carbonaceous construction materials and fuel briquettes. 

Fuel briquettes or boulets, made with petroleum binder Waxes, petroleum not produced in petroleum refineries... 

Raw materials for cheap fuel briquettes are bituminous coal fines with coal tar pitch, bitumen, or asphalt as binders or lignite (brown coal). These briquettes produce considerable smoke and air pollution. Clean air legislation , now enacted in most industrial countries, bans such fuels. 

In spite of or, more likely, because of the decline in coal briquetting, new developments were achieved during the past decades. They were either directed towards a more economical production of briquettes, rendering this fuel more competitive, or the manufacturing of compliance fuel , briquettes or compacts that can be burnt without violating anti-pollution laws. More recent developments are using so called opportunity fuels , waste materials with calorific value that need to be disposed of without landfilling. 

P.L. Waters, Binders for Fuel Briquettes — a Critical Survey , Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia, Technical Communication 51, May 1969. 

The production of smokeless fuel briquettes, both for domestic and industrial use, from bituminous coal using a binder is an old art and there are several commercial processes available (Franke, 1930 Haake and Meyer, 1930 Rhys Jones, 1963 Schinzel, 1981 Perlack et al., 1986). But the increasing use of petroleum, gas, and electricity for heating purposes and the reduction in the number of individual heating plants have caused a reduction in the use of coal briquettes. In spite of this, and contradictory as it may seem, the increased use of petroleum has been of some value to the briquetting industry. During the last 20 years the intense competition from petroleum products, as well as an increase in demand by consumers for briquette quality, led to automation of the production of briquettes and a continuous improvement in quality. 

The concept of blending a charge originates from the fact that coals vary widely in their ability to make coke, and, hence, it is customary to blend coals before carbonization in order to produce the desired type of carbonaceous product (Gruit and Marsh, 1981). For example, for the manufacture of softer and more reactive cokes, coals of the lower ranks have been widely employed. In particular, the low-temperature carbonization processes have been used for the production of reactive domestic fuel (briquettes) and have favored the use of the less strongly coking coals. 

In the anthracine process, fines are briquetted with a pitch binder and treated with air-enriched flue gas at 350°C-380°C (660°F-715°F) thereby undergoing an oxidative thermal treatment. The main product is fuel briquettes that evolve little smoke. The Coppee process is similar to the anthracine process but uses higher-volatile coals as feedstock. 

Low Temperature Carbonization. The Lurgi Sptlgas process was developed to carbonize brown coal at relatively low temperatures to produce tars and oils (Fig. 5). A shaft furnace internally heated by process-derived fuel gas (Spblgas) is used. The product can range from a friable coke breeze to hard lump coal depending on the quality of the briquettes used in the feed. The briquettes, made in normal extmsion presses, break down into smaller sizes during carbonization. 

The conditions of pyrolysis either as low or high temperature carbonization, and the type of coal, determine the composition of Hquids produced, known as tars. Humic coals give greater yields of phenol (qv) [108-95-2] (up to 50%), whereas hydrogen-rich coals give more hydrocarbons (qv). The whole tar and distillation fractions are used as fuels and as sources of phenols, or as an additive ia carbonized briquettes. Pitch can be used as a biader for briquettes, for electrode carbon after coking, or for blending with road asphalt (qv). 

The most common examples of fluid-solid reactions in which the size of solid changes are the reactions of carbonaceous materials such as coal briquettes, wood, etc. with low ash content to produce heat or heating fuels. For example, with an insufficient amount of air, producer gas is formed by the reactions... 

CA 41,7073 (1947) (Utilization of powdered coal as a fuel) C)Kirk Othmer 4 (1949), 126 407 (Uses of finely pulverized coal in dynamites, as fillers for various purposes and as a fuel either in pulverized form or compressed into briquettes) D)A. Fitton, InstPetroleum Review 3, 18-26 (1946) CA 45, 7771 (1951) (Discussion on the history of the use of pulverized coal and the possibilities and problems involved in its use in present-day industry) E)B. Ghosh A.A. Orning,... 

Cooking constitutes a source of VOCs in the indoor environment Food stuffs and fuels emit ample amounts of VOCs. For example, up to 54 hydrocarbons were identified from a study of 16 fuels/ stoves combinations that are usually used in urban and rural settings in China (Tsai et al., 2003). The worst stove/fuel VOC emitters include metal stoves with a flue/unprocessed coal powder, metal stoves with a flue/washed coal powder, brick stove with a flue/maize residue while the least emitters ofVOCs are traditional gas stove/coal gas fuel, improved brick stove with a flue/maize residue and metal coal stove with a flue/honeycomb coal briquette. Many of the compounds emitted in substantial amounts are reactive unsaturated compounds such as benzene, ethylene, acetylene, and propene. For example, up to 2856 mg of ethylene was emitted by per kg of coal powder in the metal stove. Similarly, the observation of elevated levels of benzene and toluene in a food-court in South China has been rationalized in terms of emission from liquefied petrol gas (LPG) stoves (Tang et al., 2005). Thus, cooking is an important contributor of precursors of photochemical smog. 

The production of solid fuels from renewable resources (e.g. biomass) has become more important due to increasing energy demands and also because of environmental pressure. Upgraded biofuels (refined biofuel) include powdered fuels and densified fuel such as briquettes and pellets. The raw materials are often shavings... 

In the early 1900s, charcoal from byproduct recovery plants usually was used for cooking and heating in low-income areas and was known as a poor man s fuel. Beginning in about 1950, there was an upturn in demand for charcoal for recreation use. In this era of suburban living, the use of charcoal briquettes for cookouts represents a significant market. The charcoal briquette now can be considered a luxury fuel, as it is too expensive for heating. 

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