Catalytic hydroprocessing of SRC-II heavy distillate fractions. 4. Hydrodeoxygenation of phenolic compounds in the acidic fractions

Heavy distillate obtained by hydroliquefaction of Powhatan No.5 coal was separated into 9 fractions by liquid chromatography. The very-weak-acid and weak-acid fractions were used as feeds in hydroprocessing experiments with sulphided Ni-Mo/Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ catalyst at 350 C and 120 atm. The hydrodeoxygenation of the acidic compounds was shown to be rapid in comparison with other hydroprocessing reactions of coal liquids, including hydrogenation of aromatics, hydrodesulphurisation and hydrodenitrogenation.