Direct liquefaction of coal with coal-derived solvents to produce precursors for carbon products.

摘要

Direct liquefaction (hydrogenation) of coal has frequently been pursued as one avenue for the production of value added products from coal. The focus of this research was to evaluate five coal-derived liquids as substitutes for tetralin in the coal hydrogenation process. A mid-distillate by-product liquid from the production of high quality char was obtained from Antaeus Technical Services, Inc. and split into three fractions, the original liquid (RACL), its heavy fraction (DACL-H), and its light fraction (DACL-L). The other two liquids were heavy creosote oil (HCO) and carbon black base #1 (CBB) from Koppers Industries, Inc. These liquids were used as hydrogenation solvents under varying reaction conditions such as gas pressure, gas composition, and solvent-to-coal ratio. The products were separated by filtration and vacuum distillation to produce three fractions, the THF insolubles, pitch, and recycle solvent. The coal-alone conversions were calculated for each hydrogenation reaction and the pitch fractions were characterized as possible carbon-product precursors by softening point, ash content, coke yield, elemental analysis, and optical texture. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)