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Title: Preparation of a wet load of coal for transport and storage
Claims: What I claim is: 1. A method for the preparation of a wet load of coal for storage and vessel transport, the coal having a bulk density of at least 700 kg/m.sup.3 and being prepared from an aqueous slurry of coal fines, the coal having less water than the slurry to facilitate storage and transportation and being resistant to settling and compacting of the fines in the coal to facilitate removal of the coal from storage and transportation means, comprising preparing briquettes with a dry appearance containing less that 20% by weight of water from the aqueous slurry of coal fines and subsequently mixing the briquettes with a mass of water and coal fines. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein briquettes with a water content of less than 15% by weight of water are mixed with the said mass. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the briquettes are mixed with a mass that is obtained by dewatering an aqueous slurry of coal fines to a water content of less than 30% by weight. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the briquettes are mixed with a mass that is obtained by agglomerating the coal fines in an aqueous slurry of coal fines and by removing excess water. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the briquettes are mixed with a mass obtained by dewatering an aqueous slurry of coal fines to such an extent that a paste is obtained and by extruding the paste, to obtain a mass of extrudates comprising coal fines and water. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the water content of the mass is from about 10 to about 20% by weight. 7. The method of claim 4 wherein the briquettes are prepared from the aqueous slurry of coal fines by agglomerating the coal fines with a binder, removing the obtained agglomerates from the water and briquetting the agglomerates. 8. The method of claim 7 wherein at least part of the binder is stripped from the agglomerates before, during or after briquetting. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the said briquettes contain binder but substantially no water. 10. The method of claim 3 wherein the briquettes are prepared from the aqueous slurry of coal fines by dewatering the slurry to such an extent that a paste is obtained, extruding the paste and briquetting the extrudates obtained. 11. The method of claim 10 in which an aqueous slurry is divided into two parts, the said mass being prepared from one part and the said briquettes being prepared from the other part. 12. The method of claim 4 in which all the agglomerates are prepared from one aqueous slurry of coal fines, part of the agglomerates being briquetted and the briquettes thus obtained being mixed with the remainder of the agglomerates. 13. The method of claim 5 in which all the extrudates are prepared from an aqueous slurry of coal fines, part of the extrudates being briquetted and the briquettes obtained being mixed with the remainder of the extrudates. 14. The method of claim 8 in which the coal fines are agglomerated with a light hydrocarbon, the agglomerates obtained are dried after separation from the water and the light hydrocarbon obtained in the drying step is re-used in the agglomeration step. 15. The method of claim 8 in which such a binder is used for preparing the agglomerates, that a fraction of the binder can be separated from the agglomerates obtained and an other fraction is left in the agglomerates. 16. The method of claim 8 in which the binder used contains a light hydrocarbon oil fraction and high-boiling heavy hydrocarbon oil fraction, and in which the light fraction is stripped from the briquettes obtained therefrom. 17. The method of claim 14 in which the light hydrocarbon is naphtha. 18. The method af claim 17 in which the bulk density of the wet load of coal is at least 900 kg/m.sup.3. 19. The method of claim 17 in which the bulk density is from 1000 to 1200 kg/m.sup.3. 20. The method of claim 19 in which the aqueous slurry of coal fines contains from 30 to 60% by weight of solids. 21. The method of claim 20 in which the aqueous slurry of coal fines contains solid particles of which at least 90% by weight have a particle size of less than 10 mm. 22. The method of claim 21 in which at least 50% by weight of the particles have a particle size of less than 1 mm. 23. The method of claim 16 in which at least 90% by weight of the agglomerates have a particle size of more than 1 mm. 24. The method of claim 22 in which at least 90% by weight of the agglomerates have a particle size of between 5 and 20 mm. 25. The method of claim 5 in which at least 90% by weight of the extrudates have a particle size of more than 1 mm. 26. The method of claim 25 in which two or more types of extrudates of different particle size are prepared, each type having a substantially constant diameter. 27. The method of claim 26 in which the briquettes have a smallest dimension of at least 5 mm. 28. The method of claim 27 in which the said dimension is at least 25 mm. 29. The method of claim 28 in which briquettes of two or more types are prepared, each type having a different but substantially constant particle size. Other info: Inventors: Verschuur, Eke (Amsterdam, NL) Application Number: 513968 Filing Date: 1974-10-11 Publication_date: 1976-05-18 Assignee: Shell Oil Company (Houston, TX) Primary Class(es): 44/280 44/500, 44/504, 414/139.4 Other Classes: US Patent Ref:
Other Refs: Primary Examiner: Dees, Carl F. Assistant Examiner: Attorney: |
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