Elucidation of coal structural components by short residence-time extractive liquefaction. [Ph. D. thesis; 168 references

Abstract

Short contact time, thermal reactions of bituminous coals with tetralin in hydrogen atmosphere were studied to ascertain the mechanism of the coal liquefaction process, the labile functional structures in the coal and the products, the hydrogen transfer reactions between coal and tetralin, and the kinetics of coal conversion. A differential reaction technique was used to achieve a slow progressive conversion of the coal, and to observe the rapidly developing initial reactions. Infrared spectra of the extracts formed at short contact time (as short as 6 seconds per pass) revealed the distinctive characteristics of the labile structures during the initial process of the coal liquefaction, especially in the spectral regions of oxygen functional groups such as hydrogen bonded phenolic OH, carbonyl and ether. Yield and kinetic data indicated reaction paths of the coal conversion. A hybrid, kinetic model containing first and second order rate equations was developed and tested for the data.