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Title: Improved coal conversion in CO/water systems: Final report for the period September 4, 1984 through September 1, 1986

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6830937

SRI has conducted research on the liquefaction of coal, with a focus on the factors governing the character of the products formed in the process. The conversions were conducted at 350 to 400/sup 0/C in CO/water, where a wide range of conversions can be obtained with no change in the thermal severity of the system. The work dealt with products from conversion of samples of Illinois No. 6 coal. For comparison, we also studied products from conversion treatment of aromatic, crosslinked polymer, and pitches obtained from the thermolysis of anthracene. The major diagnostic used in the study was 400 MHz /sup 1/H NMR. The polymer, initially insoluble in organic solvents, yielded a product, 20 to 25% of which was soluble in pyridine. The /sup 1/H NMR showed that greater than 60% of the hydrogens in the product were aliphatic. The coal product was 91% pyridine soluble, and around 75% of the hydrogens in that fraction were aliphatic. The aliphatic envelopes for the two products were remarkably similar, and we conclude that (1) under coal conversion conditions there is a substantial conversion of aromatic carbons to aliphatic ones, and (2) there is some degree of thermodynamic control over the production of the aliphatic portion of the product. Pitches isolated from the thermolysis of anthracene similarly showed aliphatic hydrogen, and the NMR envelopes were similar to those for the coal and polymer products, supporting these conclusions. Finally, treatment of available thermodynamic data for the isomeric family of C/sub 3/-benzenes derived from propylbenzene provided equilibrium positions over a range of temperatures up to 800/sup 0/C. The eight isomers include aliphatic carbons in the ..cap alpha..-, ..beta..- and ..gamma..-positions. This exercise demonstrates that there is a thermodynamic tendency with increasing temperature toward conversion of benzyl to more distant alkyl groups, a result in line with the experimental results. 11 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.

Research Organization:
SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-84PC70811
OSTI ID:
6830937
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/70811-9; ON: DE87004501
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products. Original copy available until stock is exhausted
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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