Coal cleaning employing quaternary salts. Annual report, July 1, 1984-June 30, 1985. [Tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide; tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide]

Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:5291267

Hippo, E J; Murdie, N

An investigation into a novel approach to coal desulfurization has been initiated. This approach is in the formative stages, but is envisioned to included a treatment step to swell coal in quaternary salt solution followed by physical separation, chemical reaction to desulfurize the coal, and recovery of the quaternary salt. The present program was aimed at developing fundamental data associated with the first step. This report covers the first six months of the project. The objective of this portion of the program was to define conditions under which complete exchange of quaternary salts with coal hydroxy groups occurs, define the extent of coal swelling and changes in coal properties as a function of amount of exchange, and determine the effect of process variation on swelling rate and coal properties. Results of this research have demonstrated that substantial coal swelling occurs in the presence of quaternary salts. The amount of quaternary exchange is a small portion of the total OH groups present in the coal. Swelling has been found to be dependent on the concentration of quaternary salts, the ratio of solution to coal, time of exchange, and the type of solvent. The data also demonstrate that particle size and size distribution are changed extensively by the quaternary salt treatment. Furthermore, it appears that iron sulfide and/or sulfate are dissolved in the quaternary base. Also, some organic material is dissolved by the quaternary base. Preliminary data indicate that minerals and inertinite can be concentrated after quaternary salt treatment. The results indicate that quaternary recovery should be easier than first expected. Also, the excessive swelling with little exchange indicated that the surface chemistry of the coal is altered after exchange. Thus, oil agglomeration and froth flotation should be improved when coals are treated with the quaternary salt. 11 refs., 11 tabs.

• Research Organization: Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes
• DOE Contract Number: FC22-83FE60339
• OSTI ID: 5291267
• Report Number(s): DOE/FE/60339-T25; ON: DE85018434
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
COAL
CLEANING
PARTICLE SIZE
SWELLING
QUATERNARY COMPOUNDS
DESULFURIZATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
AMINES
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SIZE
013000* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Transport
Handling
& Storage
010402 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Purification & Upgrading