Modelling of Coal Hydroliquefaction in a Bubble-column Reactor

Victorian brown coal has been hydrogenated continuously by heating a slurry of coal in tetralin in the presence of hydrogen gas. Both preheat and reaction are effected in a single vertical bubble-column reactor. A mathematical model is developed for this process based on dispersed plug flow for the slurry phase and plug flow for the gas. The model is used to establish kinetic parameters and to examine the effects of varying physical parameters.