CONVERTING COAL MINING INTO UNDERGROUND PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL OIL

A method for direct liquefaction of coal is presented. After separating the coal from waste rock gravitationally in an aqueous salt solution, drying and grinding, the purified separated coal is mixed with a paste-forming reagent. The paste is ground until a colloidal particle size and hydrogenated for 2 hours at temperature of 405°C and 11 MPa hydrogen pressure. Artificial oil was obtained with over 95 % yield with respect to the initial amount of purified coal when the contact of excavated coal with air was avoided. Based on findings, a technology is proposed for underground coal liquefaction with significantly reduced energy consumption of the process, removed environmental hazards and higher efficiency with respect to existing technologies.