Microwave acceleration of carbon gasification reactions

Abstract

A method for the gasification of carbon to yield products including carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane. The method comprises irradiating a source of carbon with radiation having a frequency between 300 GHz and 300 MHz and contacting the source of carbon with a reactant such as water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and a nitrogen oxide. The choice of reactant dictates the resultant product.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of gasifying a source of carbon, the method comprising:
 irradiating the source of carbon with radiation having a frequency between 300 GHz and 300 MHz; and   contacting the source of carbon with a reactant selected from the group consisting of water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, a nitrogen oxide having formula NO x  wherein x has a value between 0.5 and 3, and any combination thereof;   wherein said contact between the irradiated source of carbon and the reactant causes a reaction that yields a product selected from the group consisting of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, methane, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen, and any combination thereof.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the radiation has a frequency between about 1 GHz and about 18 GHz. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the radiation has a frequency between about 1 GHz and about 6 GHz. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the radiation has a frequency between about 1.5 GHz and about 3 GHz. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the radiation has a frequency between about 3 GHz and about 6 GHz. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the radiation has a frequency between about 6 GHz and about 10 GHz. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the radiation has a frequency between about 14 GHz and about 17 GHz. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the source of carbon and the reactant are additionally contacted with thermal heat. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the source of carbon comprises any carbon source capable of absorbing microwave radiation. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the source of carbon comprises any solid carbon source capable of absorbing microwave radiation. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the source of carbon is selected from the group consisting of amorphous carbon, charcoal, activated charcoal, carbon black, coal, graphite, coke, carbonized biomass, fullerene, carbon nanotubes, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the reactant comprises carbon dioxide, and the method yields a product comprising carbon monoxide. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the composition of the gas at steady state conditions comprises a molar ratio of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) of at least about 1:1 at a temperature less than 1000° C. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the composition of the gas at steady state conditions comprises a molar ratio of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) of at least about 2:1 at a temperature less than 920° C. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the composition of the gas at steady state conditions comprises a molar ratio of carbon monoxide (CO) to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) of at least about 3:1 at a temperature less than 820° C. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the reactant comprises water, and the method yields a product comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the reactant comprises water, and the method yields a product comprising carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the reactant comprises steam, and the method yields a product comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the reactant comprises steam, and the method yields a product comprising carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the reactant comprises hydrogen, and the method yields a product comprising methane. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the reactant comprises the nitrogen oxide having formula NO x  wherein x has a value between 0.5 and 3. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1  where in the nitrogen oxide is selected from the group consisting of NO 2 , NO, N 2 O, N 2 O 2 , N 2 O 3 , N 2 O 4 , N 2 O 5 , and any combination thereof.