99/02375 Gasification of a brown coal chunk in flowing air

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Weight: 204 KB
• Volume: 40
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0140-6701
• DOI: 10.1016/s0140-6701(99)98144-4

✦ Synopsis

An assessment of the enhanced solubility of Upper Freeport coal in mixed N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP)-carbon disulfide solvent with respect to the self-association properties of NMP. It was found that the addition of a nonpolar solvent breaks up the self-association of NMP. Thus, diluting NMP with a non-polar co-solvent would impart a thermodynamic advantage to the solvent system prior to mixing it with the coal. It is suggested that the strong osmotic forces exerted by this solvent on the expanded coal 'gel' lead to fracture. Thus some of the enhanced solubility of the coal in the mixed solvents was due to the presence of macroscopic particles broken off from the samples.