Effect of a catalyst on the solvent-free liquefaction of DECS-17 coal

Dispersed catalysts are important factors in efforts to improve the first stage of direct coal liquefaction processes. Understanding the role of these catalysts is vital to improving their performance. Prior work at the Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center has been devoted to studying the role of a dispersed catalyst, apart from that of added solvent or vehicle, in the first stage of liquefaction (1). In that work, Mo(CO){sub 6} was found to be an excellent precursor for generating dispersed MoS{sub 2}-containing catalyst for the solvent-free liquefaction of coal. In the work reported here, solvent-free thermal and catalytic microautoclave experiments with DECS-17 coal were performed at various residence times to investigate the role of the MoS{sub 2}-containing catalyst formed from MO(CO){sub 6} in the initial stages of the liquefaction process. A temperature slightly above that where pronounced catalyst-induced hydrogen uptake was previously observed (375{degrees}C) was used in this study. The focus of this paper is on the characterization of the THF-insoluble products. These products were characterized by organic petrology, oxygen speciation analysis, solid-state {sup 13}C NMR, and elemental analysis. A more complete account of this work and of similar experiments conducted at 350{degrees}C and 400{degrees}C is not possible here but will bemore » reported at a later time.« less