A biomass fuel slurry includes a mixture of a biomass material and a plastic material suspended in water. In other embodiments, the biomass fuel slurry also includes coal. A method of making a biomass fuel slurry includes the steps of encapsulating a biomass material with a plastic material to produce a plastic encapsulated biomass material and suspending the plastic encapsulated biomass material in water.

A method of processing raw coal using activation agents (e.g., solvents and extractants) in a high shear reactor, which creates high shearing forces to break apart the coal and selectively extract and remove contaminants such as ash, sulfur, and other heavy metal impurities resulting in clean, high caloric-value coal.

Systems and methods of producing a solid fuel composition are disclosed. In particular, systems and methods for producing a solid fuel composition by heating and mixing a solid waste mixture to a maximum temperature sufficient to melt the mixed plastics within the solid waste mixture is disclosed.

Disclosed are methods of producing calcined coke from bio-oil from a biomass feedstock. Also disclosed are calcined cokes produced by such methods.

An emulsifying dispersant includes, as the main component, vesicles formed from an amphiphilic substance capable of self-assembly or an emulsifying dispersant comprising single particles of a biopolymer as the main component. The particles made from amphiphilic substances capable of self-assembly are used. The amphiphilic substances are selected from among polyoxyethylene-hydrogenated castor oil derivatives wherein the average number of added ethylene oxide molecule is 5 to 15, dialkyldimethyl-ammonium halides wherein the chain length of the alkyl or alkenyl is 8 to 22, and phospholipids or phospholipid derivatives. According to the invention a three-phase structure composed of an aqueous phase, an emulsifying dispersant phase and an oil phase is formed on the surface of an emulsion to give an emulsion (such as emulsion fuel) excellent in thermal stability and long-term stability.

Disclosed are a pulverized coal preprocessing method and a pulverized coal gasifying method. The pulverized coal preprocessing method comprises the following steps: (1) performing pore broadening on pulverized coal to obtain preprocessed pulverized coal; (2) loading alkali metal ions into the preprocessed pulverized coal under an ion exchange condition to obtain alkali metal loaded pulverized coal. The method further comprises loading a chrome complex into the alkali metal loaded pulverized coal obtained in described step (2). In gasification, the pulverized coal loaded with alkali metal potassium and chrome catalysts obtained by the method has the advantages of high sulphur removal rate, high carbon conversion rate, short gasifying reaction time and high methane production.

Some variations provide a process for producing biocarbon pellets, comprising: pyrolyzing a biomass-containing feedstock in a first pyrolysis reactor to generate a first biogenic reagent and a pyrolysis vapor; introducing the pyrolysis vapor to a separation unit, to generate a pyrolysis precipitate in liquid or solid form; contacting the first biogenic reagent with the pyrolysis precipitate, thereby generating an intermediate material; pelletizing the intermediate material, to generate intermediate pellets; optionally, drying the intermediate pellets; separately pyrolyzing the intermediate pellets in a second pyrolysis reactor to generate a second biogenic reagent and a pyrolysis off-gas; and recovering the second biogenic reagent as biocarbon pellets. Some variations provide a similar process that utilizes a carbon-containing condensed-matter material, which is not necessarily a pyrolysis precipitate. The disclosure provides improved processes for producing biocarbon compositions, especially with respect to carbon yield and biocarbon properties, such as reactivity.

The present invention relates to a process for forming a fuel pellet, based on using a particular formula for making the fuel pellets. The process for forming a fuel pellet comprising of the following steps:

providing a particulate carbonaceous material having a particle size of <1 mm;

admixing the particulate carbonaceous material with a polysaccharide or a polyvinyl alcohol binder, and a crosslinker;

shaping the so-formed mixture to provide the fuel pellet.

Processes for upgrading of a coal product and preparing of a purified coal product are provided. The process comprises the steps of: (i) providing a purified coal composition, wherein the composition is in the form of solid particles, and wherein at least about 90% by volume (% vol) of the solid particles are no greater than about 500 μm in diameter; and (ii) combining the purified coal composition with a solid coal feedstock, in order to create a combined solid-solid blend upgraded coal product.

The present invention relates to a pelletisable formula, and a process for using the formula for making fuel pellets. The pelletisable formula comprises a particulate carbonaceous material such as coal dust or coal fines of particle size <1 mm, a polysaccharide or a polyvinyl alcohol binder, and a crosslinker such as zirconium carbonate or sodium borate.