Recovery of carbon from synthesis gas

Claim 1

IN A PROCESS IN WHICH A FOSSIL FUEL IS SUBJECTED TO PARTIAL OXIDATION TO PRODUCE A GAS COMPRISING HYDROGEN AND CARBON MONOXIDE AND CONTAINING ENTRAINED CARBON PARTICLES AND FROM WHICH GAS THE CARBON PARTICLES ARE REMOVED BY SCRUBBING WITH WATER TO PRODUCE A CARBON-WATER DISPERSION, THE IMPROVED TWO-STAGE HYDROCARBON ADDITION METHOD OF RECOVERING CARBON FROM SAID WATER DISPERSION IN THE FORM OF A CARBON-HYDROCARBON OIL DISPERSION WHICH COMPRISES MIXING WITH SAID DISPERSION A LIGHT HYDROCARBON OIL IN AN AMOUNT JUST SUFFICIENT TO RENDER ALL OF SAID CARBON HYROPHOBIC, SAID AMOUNT OF LIGHT HYDROCARBON OIL ON A WEIGHT BASIS BEING BETWEEN 1 AND 2 TIMES THE OIL ADSORPTION NUMBER OF SAID CARBON, PASSING THE RESULTING MIXTURE TO A SETTLING ZONE TO PERMIT THE CARBON TO RISE TO THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, ADDING ADDITIONAL HYDROCARBON OIL TO SAID SETTING ZONE ADJACENT THE WATER SURFACE TO FORM AN UPPER HYDROCARBON OIL LAYER CONTAINING DISPERSED CARBON AND A LOWER WATER LAYER, THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL HYDROCARBON OIL BEING SUFFICIENT TO FORM A CARBON-HYDROCARBON OIL DISPERSION COMTINING BETWEEN 1 AND 5 WEIGHT PERCENT AND SEPARATELY REMOVING WATER AND CARBON-HYDROCARBON OIL DISPERSION FROM SAID SETTLING ZONE.