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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

New reagents for coal desulfurization

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5792249
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Eastern Illinois Univ., Charleston, IL (USA)

In this project, possible new reagents and reactions to remove organic sulfur from coal are being evaluated. Reagent screening and development reactions utilize substitute thiophenes plus aryl and alkyl sulfides as the initial models for organic sulfur compounds in coal. The organosulfur compounds in solvent extracts of Illinois coals will serve as second generation models for the organic sulfur found in coal. The reagent formed by sodium borohydride reduction of nickel chloride in ethanol nickel boride'' was shown to convert several organic sulfur compounds to the corresponding hydrocarbon at 50--78{degree}C, 1 atmosphere pressure within 2 hours. To date the best conversion is a 31% conversion of dibezothiophene (DBT) to biphenyl. Benzothiophene, benzyl sulfide, and octyl sulfide are all desulfurized to lesser extents although reactions have not been optimized in terms of temperature or reagents. Possible soluble reagents based on this system and other nickel salts are under investigation. The partial reduction product form DBT, 2-phenylthiophenol, is formed in addition to biphenyl when DBT is reduced with Ni/Al alloy and NaOH or with K/THF and electron transfer agents. An authentic sample of this thiol was synthesized for identification and use in future desulfurization reactions. 7 refs., 3 tabs.

Research Organization:
Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; ILDENR; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA); Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-90PC90176
OSTI ID:
5792249
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/90176-T27; ON: DE91014047
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English