Fate of solvents in the non-catalytic depolymerization of Kentucky bituminous coal

To study the fate of the solvents in the non-catalytic liquefaction of Kentucky bituminous coal, a number of batch liquefaction experiments have been carried out using hydrophenanthrenes and coal-derived hydrogenated recycle solvents. Filtrates from the first runs have been rehydrogenated and used as solvents for additional liquefaction experiments. The reactions have been followed by detailed analysis of the feeds and products.At constant temperature and reaction time, the conversion levels are affected by the amount of transferable hydrogen, H_s (up to a value of about 0.6 wt.% of the feed), by the coal concentration and, to a lesser extent, by the pressurizing gas.The solvents are depleted by isomerization, cracking, and adduction-polymerization reactions. Only about 50% of the initial solvent is available for use in the second-pass runs. In addition, the quality of the second-pass solvents is lower than that of the initial solvents due to a decrease of 6-membered hydroaromatic rings and an increase of 5-membered hydroaromatic rings which are poor hydrogen donors.