Hydrogenation process for solid carbonaceous feed materials using thermal countercurrent flow reaction zone

Thermal hydrogenation of solids-containing carbonaceous feed materials to produce hydrocarbon gaseous and liquid products is performed in a thermal reaction zone, in which the feed material flows generally downwardly countercurrent to upflowing hydrogen and recycled hydrocarbon liquid. The recycled hydrocarbon liquid is at a rate sufficient to control the settling of solids-containing feed through the reactor, and is obtained from the reaction zone upper end by phase separation from gaseous effluent at reaction conditions. The gaseous effluent material is removed from the thermal reaction zone upper end, and heavy liquid material containing less than about 40 W % solids is withdrawn from the reaction zone bottom end, with both streams being passed to further phase separation and distillation steps for recovery of the hydrocarbon gas and liquid products. The process is useful for hydroconversion of solids-containing tar sand bitumen, shale oil and particularly for coal, with the coal being fed into the thermal reaction zone as a coal-oil slurry. If desired, the heavy liquid bottoms stream withdrawn from the lower end of the thermal reaction zone containing unconverted coal and ash solids can be advantageously passed to a second reaction zone containing an ebullated catalyst bed for further hydrogenation reaction to increase the conversion and yield of low-boiling hydrocarbon liquid products.