Solvent tailoring in coal liquefaction. Quarterly report, January 1984-March 1984

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6933483

Tarrer, A R; Guin, J A; Curtis, C W; Williams, D C

In this project the function of the process solvent regarding vapor-liquid equilibrium, hydrogen donation, and catalyst activity has been explored. The aim is to identify mechanisms whereby the solvent functions so as to allow tailoring of the process solvent composition for improved coal liquefaction and product selectivity. Work has continued in several areas. With respect to the hydrogenation of naphthalene in the spinning basket reactor, calculations have been made which indicate that pore diffusion may have a significant influence on the hydrogenation rate. The interaction between solvent phase behavior and hydrogenation activity is extremely complex. When using lighter solvents, a major effect is the increased residence time of the heavier species, leading to their increased conversion. Volatilization of the lighter solvent components has also been found to be a significant factor in catalyst coking and deactivation. A collection of several donor compounds was evaluated for their relative efficiency in converting coal to cresol solubles. Attempts to correlate the relative efficiency of the various donor species were made on the basis of thermodynamic stability and structural features of the molecules. The relative kinetics of coke formation on a series of hydrotreating catalysts has been studied and a theoretical model for the coking process has been formulated. The kinetics of coke burnoff was also studied for several spent catalysts. Two types of coke, with different oxidation rates were identified. The coke resulting from coal liquids hydroprocessing appears to be less refractory than coke from catalytic cracking operations. Calculations show that the coke burnoff occurs in a diffusion controlled regime using extrudate pellets.

• Research Organization: Auburn Univ., AL (USA). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
• DOE Contract Number: FG22-80PC30209
• OSTI ID: 6933483
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/30209-T6; ON: DE84012211
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010405* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Hydrogenation & Liquefaction
AROMATICS
CARBONIZATION
CATALYSTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL LIQUEFACTION
COAL LIQUIDS
COKE
COKING
CONDENSED AROMATICS
DECOMPOSITION
FLUIDS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGENATION
LIQUEFACTION
LIQUIDS
NAPHTHALENE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
OXIDATION
SOLVENTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES