Hydrogenation process of the tar obtained from the pyrolisis of brown coal

As expected, the coal would be, regarding to its equally distributed reserves, potentially substitutive resource for the crude oil as the raw material for the production of liquid fuels. The main objective of the transformation processes from coal to liquid fuels is production of diesel and petrol. In the European Union there are several activities aimed to the liquefaction of coal, regarding to suitable and tested coal to liquid (CTL) processes in Europe. EUROCOAL organisation confirmed CTL associated with Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) as the best utilisation of European coals. Brown coal research institute j.s.c., within the framework of research projects, is also interested in the technological resolution of CTL techniques. In the presented paper, research is aimed to the possible use of various Czech coals for those purposes. Several types of Czech coal from various mines were analysed for the basic technological characteristics and pyrolised under specific conditions. Obtained products (solid, liquid and gaseous) were analysed. Liquid product – brown coal tar was consequently hydrogenised in the reactor on the temperature 300 °C under the pressure of 1 up to 30 bar with the presence of hydrogenation catalyst Co–Mo (Cobalt–Molybden). Products of the hydrogenation were analysed by the GC–MS chromatography and results were compared to the input tar.

► Brown coal tar was prepared from various brown coals by the pyrolysis process.
► Hydrotreatment of the tar was provided using Co–Mo catalyst on various pressure levels.
► Liquid and gaseous products were analyzed by the GC–MS method.
► Results of experiments were compared to the quality of crude oil.