Steam pretreatment for coal liquefaction. Fifth quarterly report, 1 October 1991--31 December 1991

Steam pretreatment is the reaction of coal with steam at temperatures well below those usually used for solubilization. The objective of the proposed work is to test the application of steam pretreatment to coal liquefaction. Installation of the stirred autoclave for conventional slurry liquefaction (slow heating) was completed and preliminary testing carried out. Two liquefaction tests with untreated Illinois No. 6 coal gave satisfactory results. An additional pretreatment test of Blind Canyon coal was conducted this quarter which confirms the tentative conclusions previously reached: volatiles yields are increased by the addition of sulfided iron catalyst; it is not possible to ascertain (by the procedure used) whether extraction yield decreases or remains constant. Chromatographic separation and analysis of the products from treated {alpha}-benzylnaphthyl ether has been continued. A transformation of the product over several weeks has been noted. The {sup 1}H nmr spectrum of this product obtained in a glass lined reactor is found to be different from that obtained previously in a stainless steel reactor. The model compound {alpha}-naphthylmethyl phenyl ether has been steam pretreated and the analysis of its liquid product started. Three major components have been identified