Kinetics of conversion of tetralin during hydrogenation of coal

Abstract

Tetralin has been considered a reasonably good hydrogen donor for the hydrogenation of coal, but in the literature little attention has been given to the kinetics of its conversion. In this paper it is suggested that the conversion of tetralin, mainly to naphthalene, may be either a reversible or a non-reversible reaction depending on the catalyst employed. It is further concluded that stannous chloride, though considered one of the best coal hydrogenation catalysts, is inferior to cobalt oxide when the side reaction tetralin → decahydronaphthalenes and the rate of dehydrogenation of tetralin are considered.