Microwave-assisted extraction of Shenfu coal and its macromolecule structure

Coals consist of some molecules trapped within an organic matrix from which some organic compounds can be extracted by solvents. The Soxhlet technique has been widely used for extracting organic compounds. Microwave heating methods may be successfully applied in the field of coal science. Acetone extraction yields and the chemical composition of the extract were investigated using a typical Chinese coal, Shenfu coal, with microwave-assisted extraction. The acetone extract and residue were analyzed by GC/MS and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy respectively. The carbon spectra were converted into several numerical parameters, fa, Ha, Xb, which indicate the difference in macromolecular structure between Shenfu coal and its residue. Furthermore, a hybrid genetic algorithm was employed using these parameters to approximate a coal macromolecule by assembling the structural fragments or functional groups into a large and complicated structure.