Jul 20 2010
Hydrocarbon Conversion and Sequestration Systems, LLC (HC&SS) today announced that it has acquired the rights to a US patent which describes methods of directly converting carbon bearing solids into hydrocarbon products in a continuous flow process. A second pending patent that uses the same technology to mineralize carbon dioxide has also been acquired.
The acquired patent allows HC&SS to exclusively sell or license the new technologies to holders of mineral rights in any grade of coal or lignite, recyclers, agricultural waste producers, and others desiring to monetize large amounts of carbon bearing solids.
The patent describes the continuous feed of water and crushed carbon-bearing solids into a deep well, the application of heat and reactive agents to initiate processes which mimic the creation of naturally occurring hydrocarbons, and the retrieval of the generated hydrocarbons and byproducts for further refining.
“The inefficiencies of batch processing and the inordinate amount of energy required to convert low grade energy sources and waste into saleable hydrocarbon fuels have been holding back this major source of domestic energy production for decades,” said Dr. John R. Ousey, Jr., president of HC&SS. “We believe that our technology resolves both of these issues and will ultimately enable the manufacture of high grade hydrocarbons to be competitive with the extraction of naturally occurring sources.”
At depths approaching ten thousand feet within a sealed deep well, the weight of the slurry of materials to be converted plus enough energy to raise the temperature, will enable the super-critical conditions necessary to sustain various reactions. In addition to releasing hydrocarbons from otherwise uneconomical sources, a similar reactor zone can also be used to initiate a chemical reaction between gaseous carbon dioxide, water, and certain types of rock.
“If a cap and trade system for carbon emissions becomes a reality in the US, our technology may become the basis of an entirely new industry,” added Dr. Ousey. “A company could potentially set up our deep well reactors near sources of naturally occurring CO2 and trap the gas within crushed rock, generating carbon credits for sale to major emitters.”
Source: http://hcssllc.com/