Vhf EPR determination of the chemical forms of organic sulfur in coal

Technical Report · Sun Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5993390

Clarkson, R B; Belford, R L ^[1]

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1. Illinois Univ., Urbana, IL (USA)

Very High Frequency Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (VHF EPR) spectroscopy has demonstrated the ability to observe organic sulfur in coal. The authors have constructed a unique VHF EPR instrument operating at the W-band (96 GHz), one of only four such instruments in the world, and the only one studying coal. They are employing this instrument, as well as collaborating with scientists at Cornell University, who have a 250 GHz spectrometer, to develop a clearer understanding of the relationships between the VHF EPR spectra they observe from Illinois coal and the organic sulfur species present in it. Efforts in this first quarter have focussed on three areas: recruitment of a postdoctoral fellow to join the coal research team, work on improving the W-band spectrometer, and studies of vitrinite, sporinite, and fusinite macerals at G-band (250 GHz). All three areas have shown good progress. This report discusses in detail the main features of the W-band instrument, stressing its unique engineering features as well as comparing it to the other four instruments in the world operating in this frequency range (90-250 GHz). Preliminary analysis of the 250 GHz data on macerals obtained by density gradient centrifugation from an Illinois No. 6 coal gives the first indication that at the very highest frequencies, there may be a separation of the heteroatom VHF EPR signals into a sulfur and an oxygen-containing component. 15 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Illinois Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-90PC90176
• OSTI ID: 5993390
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/90176-T11; ON: DE91010510
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010600* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Properties & Composition
BITUMINOUS COAL
BLACK COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CENTRIFUGATION
COAL
DATA
DENSITY
DIAGRAMS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE
ENERGY SOURCES
EPR SPECTROMETERS
FLOWSHEETS
FOSSIL FUELS
FREQUENCY RANGE
FUELS
GHZ RANGE
GHZ RANGE 01-100
INFORMATION
MACERALS
MAGNETIC RESONANCE
MATERIALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
OPERATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROGRESS REPORT
RESONANCE
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTRA
SPECTROMETERS
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
VITRINITE