Task 4.4 - development of supercritical fluid extraction methods for the quantitation of sulfur forms in coal

Abstract

Development of advanced fuel forms depends on having reliable quantitative methods for their analysis. Determination of the true chemical forms of sulfur in coal is necessary to develop more effective methods to reduce sulfur content. Past work at the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) indicates that sulfur chemistry has broad implications in combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, liquefaction, and coal-cleaning processes. Current analytical methods are inadequate for accurately measuring sulfur forms in coal. This task was concerned with developing methods to quantitate and identify major sulfur forms in coal based on direct measurement (as opposed to present techniques based on indirect measurement and difference values). The focus was on the forms that were least understood and for which the analytical methods have been the poorest, i.e., organic and elemental sulfur. Improved measurement techniques for sulfatic and pyritic sulfur also need to be developed. A secondary goal was to understand the interconversion of sulfur forms in coal during thermal processing. EERC has developed the first reliable analytical method for extracting and quantitating elemental sulfur from coal (1). This method has demonstrated that elemental sulfur can account for very little or as much as one-third of the so-called organic sulfur fraction. This method has disproved the generally accepted idea that elemental sulfur is associated with the organic fraction. A paper reporting the results obtained on this subject entitled {open_quote}Determination of Elemental Sulfur in Coal by Supercritical Fluid Extraction and Gas Chromatography with Atomic Emission Detection{close_quote} was published in Fuel (A).