TITLE: Solid superacids as coal liquefaction catalysts. Final report, September 1987-December 1990.

AUTHOR: J. W. Tierney;   I. Wender.

INST.  AUTHOR: Pittsburgh Univ., PA. Dept. of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering.

SPONSOR: Department of Energy, Washington, DC.

LANGUAGE: English

PUB.  TYPE: Technical Report

PUB.  COUNTRY: United States

SOURCE: Department of Energy [DE],  1990,  42p.

NTIS ORDER NO.: DE91014177INW

ABSTRACT:

The results of a three-year project to investigate the use of certain solid superacids as catalysts for direct coal liquefaction are reported.  Sulfated iron, tin, and zirconium oxides were studied. Preparation and characterization of these materials are described. The particle sizes of the sulfafed oxides were measured and found to be significantly smaller than those of the unsulfated oxides. The acidity, as measured by pyridine adsorption and FTIR show that they behave as very strong acids at low temperatures (less than 200(degrees)C) and at higher temperatures are converted to active sulfides with sizes of 10 to 20 nanometers. The sulfated iron and tin oxides when used as catalysts for liquefaction of an Illinois No. 6 coal produced higher conversions of coal and higher yields of oils than the unsulfated oxides. The increased effectiveness is probably due primarily to the decreased particle size, but acidity may play a role during the first stages of liquefaction. The sulfated zirconium oxide, when doped with small amounts of platinum were found to highly effective for hydrocracking and hydroisomerization of normal alkanes at low temperatures. 34 refs., 13 figs., 3 tabs.

REPORT  NUMBER: DOE/PC/79928-T12

CONTRACT  NUMBER: FG22-87PC79928