Selection of coals for the AVCO hydrogen plasma arc process for making acetylene. Research and development report No. 61, interim report No. 5
A set of 30 samples of coals from different regions of the U. S. and of various ranks were selected from the Penn State sample collection and tested by AVCO for acetylene production. It was found that the most effective coals are the high volatile bituminous, the yield falling off with either medium volatile bituminous or subbituminous. Since the high volatile bituminous class is a large one and there was an appreciable range of yields within it, attempts were made to identify the most effective coals more specifically. Within the class no clear correlations could be found with such parameters as volatile matter, hydrogen content, or reflectance, nor with empirical combinations of these, though there does appear to be a somewhat greater probability of obtaining good acetylene yields if the reflectance is at the lower end of the range for highly volatile bituminous coals. There are indications that western coals tend to have more hydrogen in relation to their carbon than other coals, but there was no evidence that this increased the acetylene yield. Examination of the solid by-product of the processing of these coals suggested that the coal feed had been nonuniformly exposed to the high-temperature reducing conditions. It was thought that differences in acetylene yield might reflect accidental differences in processing conditions rather than true differences in the organic substance of the coals. Accordingly, the results were not reported, and a fresh set of 30 samples was submitted for testing under modified conditions that should ensure uniform exposure of the feed. (MCW)
- Research Organization:
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA). Dept. of Materials Science
- DOE Contract Number:
- 14-01-0001-390
- NSA Number:
- NSA-29-020409
- OSTI ID:
- 4350746
- Report Number(s):
- NP-19946
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 30-JUN-74
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Structure and thermochemical kinetic studies of coal pyrolysis. Final technical report
Laboratory-Scale Coal-Derived Graphene Process (Final Report)