A multi-tool structural change investigation of Indian vitrinite rich bituminous coal due to CS2/NMP interaction

Abstract

Solvents are important constituent in the coal liquefaction process as they act as hydrogen donors and serve as hydrogen shuttles between hydrogen and coal. A mixture of carbon disulfide (CS2) and N- methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) (1:1, v/v) was used as a solvent for a study of an Indian coal that was kept for swelling. The study of coal swelling provides valuable information, such as, determining the highest energy bond that can be broken by a particular solvent or by a mixture of solvents. It can be concluded from the results that maximum swelling and extraction yield are achieved by a CS2/NMP mixed solvent. The structure change of coal before and after its interaction with the solvent was also studied using techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). FTIR indicated that the mixed solvent caused a decrease in the solvent viscosity, enabling the solvent to penetrate more quickly into the coal structure. XRD structural parameters concluded a decrease in aromaticity and stacking height and an increase in the interplanar spacing of raw coal after the swelling process. This was due to a decrease in the crystalline carbon along with an increase in amorphous carbon. XRD results indicated that the four parallelogram-shaped aromatic sheets were parallelly connected. This was also clearly observed in HRTEM images. This work will be helpful in the understanding and development of coal liquefaction technology.