The effect of selective solvent absorption on coal conversion. Final technical report

Abstract

Using a pair of different recycle oils from Wilsonville and {sup 1}H NMR, {sup 13}C NMR, gel permeation (GPC) chromatography, high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), and elemental analysis, no significant differences were observed between the composition of the recycle oil and that portion of the oil not absorbed by the coal. For these complex mixtures, coals are not selective absorbants. Since most of the heteroatoms responsible for most of the specific interactions have been removed by hydrogenolyses, this is perhaps not surprising. To address the issue of the role of hydrogen bond donors in the reused as hydrogen donor coal, tetralin and 2-t-butyltetralin were used as hydrogen donor solvents. This work is reported in detail in Section 2. The basic idea is that the presence of the t-butyl group on the aromatic ring will hinder or block diffusion of the hydrogen donor into the coal resulting in lower conversions and less hydrogen transferred with 2-t-butyltetralin than with tetralin. Observed was identical amounts of hydrogen transfer and nearly identical conversions to pyridine solubles for both hydrogen donors. Diffusion of hydrogen donors into the coal does not seem to play a significant role in coal conversion. Finally, in Section 3 is discussedmore » the unfavorable impact on conversion of the structural rearrangements which occur when Illinois No. 6 coal is swollen with a solvent. We believe this rearrangement results in a more strongly associated solid leading to the diminution of coal reactions. Hydrogen donor diffusion does not seem to be a major factor in coal conversion while the structural rearrangement does. Both areas warrant further exploration.« less