Supercritical Fluid Reactions for Coal Processing

摘要

Exciting opportunities exist for the application of supercritical fluid (SCF) reactions for the pre-treatment of coal. Utilizing reactants which resemble the organic nitrogen containing components of coal, we propose to develop a method to tailor chemical reactions in supercritical fluid solvents for the specific application of coal denitrogenation. The DielsAlder reaction of anthracene and 4-phenyl-1,2, 4-triazoline-3,5-dione (PTAD) was chosen as the model system and was investigated in supercritical carbon dioxide. Kinetic data have been previously collected for pure CO2 at 40C and pressures between the critical pressure of CO2 (73.8 bar) and 216 bar. These data support the theory of local density enhancements suggested in the literature. Data taken at 50C and pressures ranging from 70 bar to 195 bar are currently reported; they do not exhibit the molecular clustering evident closer to the critical temperature. The data taken at 40C are now being used to construct mathematical forms which can model these pressure-induced kinetic changes. One promising avenue of investigation involves treating the supercritical medium as a dense gas, which allows a kinetic model based on high reference pressure fugacity coefficients to be derived.