Liquefaction of Coal

Abstract

The liquefaction of coal requires primarily an increase in the proportion of hydrogen to carbon by weight two-or three-fold and the atomic H/C ratio may be increased from 0.7 to up to about 2.5. In addition, the very large complex molecular structure of the coal, containing a few thousand atoms, needs to be broken down into chemical structures containing a few or a few dozen atoms. The liquid products are also generally required in a relatively pure form so this necessitates both the elimination of mineral matter and the removal of atoms other than C and H. It will be obvious that these changes are unlikely to be accomplished without considerable expenditure of energy and other resources.