Hydrogenation of Yūbari coal coated with ZnCl2-MCln (CuCl,CrCl3 and MoCl5) catalyst melts

Hydrogenation of Yūbari coal coated with 5 wt% of ZnCl₂-MCl_n (CuCl, CrCl₃ and MoCl₅) was carried out at 400 °C for 3 h with an initial hydrogen pressure of 9.8 MPa. The binary melt catalysts showed relatively higher activity in increasing the yield of hexane-solubles than did ZnCl₂ alone. The ZnCl₂-MoCl₅ catalyst melt was best in view of its highest conversion (90.9 wt%), the highest yield of hexane-soluble material (50.5 wt%) and the smallest hydrogen consumption. In terms of yield of monoaromatics of the hexane-soluble material relative to polar materials, ZnCl₂-CrCl₃ catalyst was superior to ZnCl₂-MoCl₅ although its hydrogen consumption was high. The roles of CuCl, CrCl₃ and MoCl₅ in association with ZnCl₂ in coal-hydrogenation are discussed.