A char recycling system capable of easily determining whether or not a char exhausting pipe is blocked by char. The char recycling system comprises: a stand pipe (31) forming a vertically-downwards flowpath (33) through which char is conveyed; and a differential pressure gauge (41) that measures the pressure difference between the pressure in a downstream area (45) in the vertically-downwards flowpath (33) and the pressure in an upstream area (46) in the vertically-downwards flowpath (33). The pressure difference fluctuates when char accumulates between the downstream area (45) and the upstream area (46) in the vertically-downwards flowpath (33). As a result, this kind of char recovery system is capable of easily determining whether or not the vertically-downwards flowpath (33) is blocked by char, on the basis of the measured pressure difference.

The present invention relates generally to processes for hydromethanating a carbonaceous feedstock in a hydromethanation reactor to a methane-enriched raw product stream, and more specifically to processing of solid char by-product removed from the hydromethanation reactor to improve the carbon utilization and thermal efficiency and economics of the overall process by co-producing electric power and steam from the by-product char in addition to the end-product pipeline quality substitute natural gas.

The present invention relates to a method and system for recovering and processing a hydrocarbon mixture from a subterranean formation. The method comprises: (i) mobilizing said hydrocarbon mixture; (ii) recovering said mobilized hydrocarbon mixture; (iii) coking said recovered hydrocarbon mixture to produce decoked hydrocarbon and coke; (iv) combusting said coke to generate steam and/or energy and CO.sub.2; (v) upgrading said decoked hydrocarbon by hydrogen addition to produce upgraded hydrocarbon; and (v) adding a diluent to the decoked hydrocarbon prior to upgrading and/or adding a diluent to the upgraded hydrocarbon; wherein said method is at least partially self-sufficient in terms of steam and/or energy and diluent.

The invention relates to the use of biomethanol from the pulp industry in the production of biohydrogen. The preferred biomethanol comprises purified biomethanol derived from black liquor. The invention also relates to a process for the production of biohydrogen from crude biomethanol recovered from black liquor and to a process for producing hydrocarbon biofuel using such biohydrogen as a hydrogen source. The invention further relates to a biofuel production facility for producing fuel from biohydrogen and biohydrocarbon, and to biofuel so produced. The invention makes it possible to produce a biofuel, wherein 100% of the raw material stems from non-fossil sources.

Systems and methods are provided for integrating a fluidized coking process, optionally a coke gasification process, and processes for production of additional liquid products from the coking and/or gasification process. In some aspects, the integrated processes can allow for conversion of olefins generated during a fluidized coking process to form additional liquid products. Additionally or alternately, in some aspects the integrated processes can allow for separation of syngas from the flue gas/fuel gas generated by a gasifier integrated with a fluidized coking process. This syngas can then be used to form methanol, which can then be converted in a methanol conversion process to form heavier products. In such aspects, olefins generated during the fluidized coking process can be added to the methanol conversion process to improve the yield. Additionally, in various aspects, the off-gas from the integrated conversion process can be used as an additional paraffin feed that can be recycled to one of the heat integration conduits in the fluidized coker for additional generation of olefins. This can provide a further increase in liquid yields using a carbon source (C.sub.4 paraffins) that is conventionally viewed as a low value product from coking.

The present invention relates generally to processes for hydromethanating a carbonaceous feedstock in a hydromethanation reactor to a methane-enriched raw product stream, and more specifically to processing of solid char by-product removed from the hydromethanation reactor to improve the carbon utilization and thermal efficiency of the overall process and thereby lower the net costs of the end-product pipeline quality substitute natural gas.

Novel redox based systems for fuel and chemical production with in-situ CO.sub.2 capture are provided. A redox system using one or more chemical intermediates is utilized in conjunction with liquid fuel generation via indirect Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, direct hydrogenation, or pyrolysis. The redox system is used to generate a hydrogen rich stream and/or CO.sub.2 and/or heat for liquid fuel and chemical production. A portion of the byproduct fuels and/or steam from liquid fuel and chemical synthesis is used as part of the feedstock for the redox system.

Systems and methods are provided for integrating a fluidized coking process, optionally a coke gasification process, and processes for production of additional liquid products from the coking and/or gasification process. In some aspects, the integrated processes can allow for conversion of olefins generated during a fluidized coking process to form additional liquid products. Additionally or alternately, in some aspects the integrated processes can allow for separation of syngas from the flue gas/fuel gas generated by a gasifier integrated with a fluidized coking process. This syngas can then be used to form methanol, which can then be converted in a methanol conversion process to form heavier products. In such aspects, olefins generated during the fluidized coking process can be added to the methanol conversion process to improve the yield. Additionally, in various aspects, the off-gas from the integrated conversion process can be used as an additional paraffin feed that can be recycled to one of the heat integration conduits in the fluidized coker for additional generation of olefins. This can provide a further increase in liquid yields using a carbon source (C.sub.4 paraffins) that is conventionally viewed as a low value product from coking.

A carbonaceous feedstock gasification power generation facility, and a method for regulating a gas for drying gas this carbonaceous feedstock, are disclosed with which it is possible to expand the range of the types of carbonaceous feedstocks that can be used. High-temperature exhaust gas, low-temperature exhaust gas and extreme high-temperature exhaust gas are bled from the furnace respectively at a high-temperature bleed position, a low-temperature bleed position and an extreme high-temperature bleed position. When these exhaust gases are mixed, the flow volume of the extreme high-temperature exhaust gas supplied to at least one of the exhaust gases, that is, the high-temperature exhaust gas or the low-temperature exhaust gas, is adjusted such that the temperature of at least one of these exhaust gases, that is, the high-temperature exhaust gas or the low-temperature exhaust gas, reaches a prescribed temperature.

A combined generation system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a natural gas synthesizing apparatus for receiving coal and oxygen, generating synthetic gas by a gasifier, and permitting the synthetic gas to pass through a methanation reactor so as to synthesize methane; a fuel cell apparatus for receiving fuel that contains methane from the natural gas synthesizing apparatus and generating electrical energy; and a generating apparatus for producing electrical energy using the fluid discharged from the fuel cell apparatus.