Interactions between coking coals and plastics during co-pyrolysis☆

Blends of three Australian coking coals and polypropylene, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile and polyphenylene sulfide were prepared and the extent to which the blends fused on heating was monitored using proton magnetic resonance thermal analysis in order to identify interactions between them that could affect their fluidity. Different plastics had different effects. Polystyrene strongly reduced the fluidity of all of the coals, confirming previous findings. Polypropylene did not affect the fluidity of the two coking coals of lower rank. Polyphenylene sulfide reduced the fluidity of the coals at temperatures near the solidification temperature of the coals, and polyacrylonitrile appeared to increase the fluidity of the coals at temperatures near the softening temperature of the coals. The very different effects different plastics have on coal fluidity show that the interaction between plastics and coals must be carefully examined before plastics are added to coking coal blends.