COAL HYDROCONVERSION - INFLUENCE OF REACTOR TYPE ON THE CONVERSION PRODUCTS FROM 2 MO DISPERSED COALS .1. CHAR CHARACTERIZATION

Swept fixed bed (sfb) and tubing bomb (tb) reactors have been used to hydrogenate two different coals, a subbituminous one from Spain and a bituminous one from the UK, under the same conditions (temperature ran ge 300-450-degrees-C, hydrogenation pressure approximately 15 MPa, and the same Mo salt as catalyst) in order to elucidate the influence of the reactor type and residence time with respect to conversion product s. The hydroconversion variables used were fixed according to previous experiments carried out in both reactor types with the aim of followi ng changes to the macromolecular network of coal and the release of th e conversion products. Different analytical and spectroscopic techniqu es have been employed to obtain information on the hydrogenation proce ss.