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Title: (Sorptive properties of coal fines). Tenth quarterly report, December 1, 1984-February 28, 1985

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5856710

Tables 1 and 2 list the heats of adsorption and of desorption of phenol and of pyridine and of their t-butyl derivatives on anthracite and bituminous coal powders. Pyridine and phenol are seen to have higher initial heats of adsorption and lower heats of desorption, which is considered evidence for the well-known penetration of these molecules into the coal. In contrast, the t-butyl derivatives have heats of adsorption and desorption of equal magnitude, and the desorption is complete in a very short time (about two minutes); this is compelling experimental evidence for very limited penetration into the coal. Standard deviations for the heats of adsorption and desorption are about 10% for the t-butyl derivatives. For the coal powders which were not heat-treated, slight penetration seemed to occur even with the t-butyl derivatives, for the initial heats of adsorption were often somewhat greater in magnitude than the successive heats of desorption and adsorption. The effects of washing the powdered coal with acetone and then with methylene chloride (30 minutes each) are illustrated for 3,5-di-t-butylphenol. The heats of adsorption-desorption increased with such washing for the low-ash bituminous coal, but decreased for the low-ash anthracite. Comparisons of heats of adsorption of acidic and basic probes on the same coal powders indicate the balance of basicity and acidity. For the powders which were not heat-treated the heats of adsorption of the basic probes exceeded those for the acidic probes for both bituminous coals and for the high-ash anthracite; this showed that the surface sites of these coals are predominantly acidic. The low-ash anthracite was predominantly basic, but after heating in the vacuum-oven it became predominantly acidic. 3 refs., 1 fig., 9 tabs.

Research Organization:
Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA (USA). Dept. of Chemistry
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-82PC50809
OSTI ID:
5856710
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/50809-T10; ON: DE85010461
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English