Abstract: The present invention concerns a process for smelting nickel which comprises treating nickel-containing material with a reducing gas to reduce the nickel component contained in the nickel-containing material and thereby produce metallic nickel; soaking the thus-obtained material in an ammoniacal aqueous ammonium salt solution and treating it with oxygen or an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of free ammonia in order to produce an aqueous nickel ammine salt solution; treating coal with the thus-produced aqueous nickel ammine salt solution so that the coal becomes impregnated with the nickel ammine salt; separating and recovering ammonia from the thus-treated coal; gasifying catalytically the coal containing the nickel compound in the presence of a gasifying agent, thereby producing a reducing gas and a solid residue; employing part of the thus-produced reducing gas for the treatment of the nickel-containing material; and separating and recovering metallic nickel from the solid residue.

Abstract: A method for reducing the caking property of coal, by contacting coal with sulfur dioxide in an amount at least 0.5 times the amount of the coal on a weight basis, at a temperature of at least 120.degree. C. under a pressure of at least 10 Kg/cm.sup.2, and separating the treated coal from the sulfur dioxide, whereby to reduce the caking property of the coal and to render the coal more easily pulverizable.

Abstract: A process for producing a gaseous product from carbonaceous material which is solid at room temperature comprising:Pretreating the particulate carbonaceous material with liquid ammonia at room temperature to 150.degree. C. to extract out of said carbonaceous material substantially all ammonia-solubles; and treating the residual carbonaceous material with a gasifying agent at a temperature of 400.degree. to 1,000.degree. C. under a pressure ranging from atmospheric pressure to super-atmospheric pressure in the presence or absence of a catalyst to obtain a gaseous product.With such process, there is obtained a high gasification efficiency, with avoidance of caking and coking the carbonaceous material.