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New reagents for coal desulfurization

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5993868

In this project, possible new reagents and reactions to remove organic sulfur from coal are being evaluated. For this exploratory study the authors are attempting to modify mild desulfurization reactions, shown to work with simple organosulfur compounds, to improve sulfur removal and reduce reagent cost. Reagent screening and development reactions utilize substituted 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. Ultimately, the most successful reagents will be tested on demineralized and whole coal samples. The goal of the project is development low-cost reagents capable of pre-combustion desulfurization of Illinois coal. During the first quarter, standard test methods were developed for reagent screening, base-line desulfurization reactions from the literature were run and several metal complexes were synthesized as staring materials for new reagents. Exploratory desulfurization reactions with the reagent formed by borohydride reduction of nickel chloride showed it capable of desulfurizing a variety of substituted thiophenes and sulfides under mild conditions. Future activities will seek to modify this and other systems to use simple or more easily regenerated reagents. 9 refs., 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:
5993868
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/90176-T1; ON: DE91010500
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English