Reactivity of hydrolysed coals in liquefaction

A hvA bituminous, a subbituminous and a lignite coal have been hydrolysed by 20–30% aqueous caustic solution at 100–300 °C and total pressure from ambient to 8.3 MPa (1200 psi). Reactivity of these pretreated coals toward liquefaction has been examined. The conversion to benzene-soluble material (BS) and oil increases, and the preasphaltene and char residue decreases after pretreatment. Improvement in the conversion to the BS fraction is only marginal for the pretreated bituminous coal, but substantial for the low-rank coals. For the subbituminous coal, the liquefaction reactivity (conversion to BS) increases with the severity of hydrolysis pretreatment. Analyses of chemical compositions, ¹H n.m.r. nuclei distributions and hydroxyl concentrations of the acid-insoluble hydrolysis coal extracts indicate that both O and S are enriched in the extracts with half of the oxygen atoms being in hydroxyl forms. The hydroxyl concentrations of the extracts (acid-insoluble) are ≈2 to 3 times higher than their parent coals. Coal activation by this alkali pretreatment is explained by the hydrolytic attacks on ether C–O linkages, and the removal of some constituents rich in oxygen functional groups which are responsible for poor liquefaction behaviour.