REACTIVITY OF ARGONNE COALS IN THE PRESENCE OF CYCLIC OLEFINS AND OTHER DONORS

The reactivity of eight coals from the Argonne Premium Sample Bank ran ging in rank from lignite to low volatile bituminous coal was evaluate d in the presence and absence of hydrogen donors. The effect of highly reactive cyclic olefins, isotetralin ana hexahydroanthracene (HHA), o n coal conversion to tetrahydrofuran soluble material was compared to that of more conventional hydroaromatic donors - tetralin (TET), dihyd roanthracene (DHA), and octahydroanthracene (OHA). The Argonne coals w ere ranked according to their reactivity in an inert solvent, hexadeca ne, and in Maya resid. These rankings, based on averages, agreed with those calculated by a computed signal-to-noise ratio which measures si multaneously average and variability of coal conversion. The high vola tile bituminous coals, Illinois No. 6, Western Kentucky No. 9, Pittsbu rgh No. 8, and Blind Canyon, were the most reactive. The three-ring hy drogen donors, DHA and HHA, were the most effective for transferring h ydrogen to coal, whereas OHA and TET were the least effective. The rea ction products obtained from each of the hydrogen donors were differen t and specific to each reaction. The reactivity of the coal, the ease and effectiveness of hydrogen donation from the donor, and, to a lesse r degree, the solvent medium present affected the extent of reaction o ccurring for each coal system.