Chemical characterization of thermal maturity in coals using high-resolution chromatographic methods. Annual report, May 1988-April 1989

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

OSTI ID:5210605

Lee, M L; Vorkink, W P

A mild (solvated electron reduction) depolymerization method has been applied to three coals (North Dakota Lignite, Pittsburgh No. 8 high volatile bituminous, and Pocahontas No. 3 low volatile bituminous) from low to high rank. Resultant solubilities ranged from 12 to 60%, however only a very small percent (< or = 5%) could be analyzed by high-resolution chromatographic methods. However, the results indicate that the solvent extractable portion of coal becomes more characteristic of the macromolecular structure of coal as rank increases. The sulfur and nitrogen heterocycles in the extracts of different rank coals were separated and identified using gas chromatography coupled to element-selective detection and mass spectrometry. Thiophenic compounds were the major sulfur-containing compounds, and pyrrolic compounds were the most abundant nitrogen-containing compounds. The heterocycles and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons had structural similarities that could be related to coal rank or maturity. There were preferred aromatic moieties for which the degree of alkylation and extent of aromatization decreased and increased, respectively, with rank. The selection of propylene carbonate/CO{sub 2} mixtures as mobile phase, and the optimization of a two-dimensional chromatograph for supercritical fluid chromatography, strengthens the possibility of effectively analyzing large molecular mass compounds in the various coal fractions.

• Research Organization: Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT (USA). Dept. of Chemistry
• OSTI ID: 5210605
• Report Number(s): PB-90-114554/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010600* -- Coal
Lignite
&amp; Peat-- Properties &amp; Composition
ALKANES
BITUMINOUS COAL
BLACK COAL
BROWN COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COAL
COAL RANK
DECOMPOSITION
DEPOLYMERIZATION
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY SOURCES
EXTRACTION
FERMIONS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
HYDROCARBONS
LEPTONS
LIGNITE
MAGNETIC RESONANCE
MASS SPECTRA
MATERIALS
METHANE
NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
POLYCYCLIC SULFUR HETEROCYCLES
PROGRESS REPORT
REDUCTION
RESONANCE
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLVATED ELECTRONS
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SPECTRA