Effectivity of Phenol during Solvent Extraction of a South African Bituminous Coal under Mild Conditions

Abstract

Solvent extraction of a South African bituminous coal was carried out under mild conditions (<400 °C) with a holding time of 20 min and an initial nitrogen (N2) pressure of 6 MPa. Thermal degradation of coal with phenol results in the depolymerization of the coal, yielding coal-derived liquids and insoluble residues. The effectiveness of phenol for solvent extraction of coal within the temperature range of 300–360 °C was investigated, with a focus on the quality of the coal-derived liquids. It was found that an increase in temperature from 300 °C to 360 °C resulted in an increase in the conversion and yields of both oil and gas, and a reduction in the intermediate components (preasphaltenes + asphaltenes, PAAs). The conversion and extraction yields of hexane-soluble (HS) oils were 49.5% (daf) and 26.3% (daf), respectively (daf = dry ash-free), for thermal depolymerization reactions at 360 °C. It seems that the extraction process dissolves molecular fragments of the coal, because the infrared spectra of the coal and the extraction products are similar. The SimDis results of the coal-derived liquids (300–360 °C) indicated that the samples consisted of light vacuum gas oil (23–31 wt %), distillate fuel oil (16–30 wt %), heavy vacuum gas oil (18–34 wt %), and residual oil (3–16 wt %). These results show the potential of phenol as a solvent to extract South African bituminous coal at mild temperatures for value-added liquid fuels and add to the general knowledge of the potential utilization of the Permian-aged South African bituminous coals.