Studies in coal liquefaction with application to the SRC and related processes. Quarterly report, August-October 1980. [Tetralin plus other aliphatic or aromatic components]

This work investigates the liquefaction of coal in several solvent mixtures. Model solvents composed of tetralin plus an added aliphatic or aromatic component of various molecular weights are employed. Liquefaction using tetralin plus a higher molecular weight cut derived from coal liquefaction is also examined. Kinetic rate constants including activation energies are obtained for conversion to cresol solubles in two of the model solvent systems. The coal liquefaction rate was found to be affected by the reactor volume, that is, the fraction of solvent vaporized at reaction conditions. Aliphatic components in the solvent tended to adversely affect liquefaction. Addition of a high molecular weight fraction from SRC processing to tetralin tended to enhance coal conversion to cresol solubles.