Degradative solvent extraction of demineralized and ion-exchanged low-rank coals

Dehydration and upgrading are essential pretreatment methods for efficient utilization of low-rank coal. In previous works the authors employed degradative solvent extraction method to dehydrate and upgrade low-rank coals and fractionate them into several fractions. For further study of this method, two low-rank coals (MM and LY) were pretreated by acid washing for demineralization or acid washing and Na/Co ion-exchange. The pretreated and raw coals were then extracted by 1-methylnaphthalene (1-MN) at 350°C and fractionated into upgraded coal (UC), high molecular weight extract (deposit), low molecular weight extract (soluble), as well as a little H2O and gas products. The results show that both acid washing and ion-exchange enhance the yields and carbon contents of the two extracts. Ion-exchange obviously promotes the removal of oxygen-containing functional group during extraction. The yield of high molecular weight extract of demineralized MM increases from 3.5% to 9.5%, and the carbon content and oxygen content of low molecular weight extract of Na ion-exchanged LY are as high as 85.3% and less than 6.4%, respectively. Ion-exchange has a distinct influence on physical and chemical properties of the extracts. The influence of Na ion-exchange is especially remarkable. Thus, demineralization and ion-exchange have evident promotion for the degradative solvent extraction of low-rank coal.