Structures of the distillates obtained from hydrogenation and pyrolysis of Liddell coal

Abstract

The structures of the distillable fractions (oils, b.p. >200 °C and volatile fractions, b.p. <200 °C) of the products from hydrogenation and pyrolysis of an Australian bituminous coal (Liddell) were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (g.c.-m.s.) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (n.m.r.). The distillable oil generated from hydrogenation of Liddell coal at 400 °C, using nickel molybdenum ortin (II) chloride as catalyst and tetralin or recycle oil as vehicle, consisted of a wide range of compounds. Long straight-chain alkanes were important components together with alkyl-substituted benzenes and tetralins, phenols and polycyclic material. When yields were low, as in the case of catalytic experiments with nickel molybdenum catalysts and no vehicle, isoprenoids could be identified. When a substantial proportion of the coal was converted to oil, branched-chain alkanes were not important components of the product. The replacement of tetralin and nickel molybdenum catalyst with stannous chloride reduced the amounts of methyl tetralins in the product. When tetralin was replaced by recycle oil, alkanes were more important components of the liquid products. Although alkenes were absent in oils generated by hydrogenation, they were important components of oils generated by pyrolysis. The highly volatile fractions (b.p. <200 °C) produced during hydrogenation consisted of alkyl-substituted benzenes, decalins, methylindan and straight-chain alkanes. Straight-chain alkanes were more abundant in those volatile fractions generated by hydrogenation with recycle vehicle than with tetralin. The Brown-Ladner method of estimating the fraction of aromatic carbon in distillable oils was adequate for less volatile fractions but was inadequate for the highly volatile fractions because of the large amounts of α-CH 3 and β-CH 3 alkyl groups present.