Experimental and Modelling Comparison of the Effects of UV Energy on Liquefaction Efficiency In Coal Liquefaction Mechanism

Abstract

Coal liquefaction process gives very efficient results, especially for value-added chemicals production from low-quality coal. However, when the literature is examined, notably there is not enough scientific study for liquefaction mechanisms. Here, in this study, There are five different liquefaction mechanisms of Beypazarı coals. It includes four different UV light power and a catalyst environment using 180 watts of UV power. Created first-order linear discrete models were proposed and compared with the experimental results. Additionally, the reaction rate constants for each proposed kinetic model were calculated using the Kalman filter method. However, to evaluate the compatibility of the experimental results and the modeling results, the sum of the squared differences of the values calculated from the experimental data and the models was examined. Because of these studies, it has been observed that the rate constants of direct oil formation from coal at 120 and 180 watts of UV power are at least three times greater than the rate constants for the formation of asphaltene and pre-asphaltene from coal. Simultaneously, The results demonstrate that models with reversible and parallel steps are more compatible with experimental data. Experimental data and modeling results are much more compatible with the studies conducted on Beypazarı coals in a 180-watt UV-catalyzed environment compared to a 180-watt catalyst-free environment. In the presence of ZnO catalyst, the rate constants occurring in the conversion reaction from coal to oil were again three times faster than the conversion rate constants from coal to asphaltene and from coal to preasphaltene. In the modeling and experimental results conducted in the catalyst environment, the efficiency was higher than the catalyst-free environment. The best fit was obtained using model that has both reversible (between asphaltene: coal, asphaltene: oil, and asphaltene: preasphaltene) and irreversible (coal: oil, coal: preasphaltene and preasphaltene: oil) reaction steps. The model also evidenced that reversible reactions are critical on the liquefaction of Beypazarı coal.