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Title: Interaction of a sub-bituminous coal with a strong acid and a strong base

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5164245· OSTI ID:5164245

The interaction of a Wyoming subbituminous coal with molten phosphoric acid containing catalytic additives, and also with molten sodium hydroxide containing catalytic additives, has been studied at 200/sup 0/C under hydrogen at atmospheric pressure. Treated coal was recovered from the melt by dilution with water and subsequent filtration. Phosphoric acid treatment resulted in a product that had phosphorus incorporated into the organic coal matrix (up to 2.4 wt% in 4 hr). The products showed little desulfurization or deashing, and a much reduced mechanical strength, compared to raw coal. Benzene extractability of the melt-treated coal increased to a maximum of 3.79 wt% (compared to 1.85% for untreated coal) in the first half-hour of reaction, and then declined on further treatment to reach 2.28% in 4 hr. None of the additives tested resulted in benzene extractability greater than the maximum obrained with phosphoric acid alone. Extracts from acid-treatment experiments were characterized by mass spectrometry, ir, uv, and nmr; these extracts contained no aromatics, and thus were similar to extracts obtained in an earlier study with zinc chloride melts. Sodium hydroxide treatment of Wyodak coal resulted in a product similar to the original coal, both in appearance and mechanical strength. X-ray fluorescence analysis indicated up to 50% desulfurization. Because the amounts of material extracted by organic solvents are so small under these experimental conditions, the results cannot be used to draw general conclusions about the chemical structure of this coal or of liquefaction products from it.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
5164245
Report Number(s):
LBL-5997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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