Production and Screening of Carbon Products Precursors from Coal.

The U.S. DOE Office of Fossil Energy is interested in the coproduction of coal liquids and carbon precursors. The DOE project manager has arranged for Hydrocarbon Technologies, Inc. (HTI) to provide the WV researcher team with samples of stage-one, mildly hydrogenated coal liquids. Distillation and extraction process are being developed which produce a potential carbon anode precursor from the HTI material. The results obtained thus far seem to indicate that a coal-derived, pitch-like material can be developed from the HTI liquefaction product after distillation to remove liquefaction solvent and NM extraction to eliminate mineral matter. The physical properties of the liquid are not unreasonable when compared to other types of available pitches. The molecular arrangement and the optical structures present in the green coke of the de-ashed coal liquid may be suitable for the production of anodes for aluminum manufacture, but more testing needs to be conducted to confirm this