Hydrotreating of low temperature coal tar to produce clean liquid fuels

Clean liquid oil was obtained from low temperature coal tar (LCT) via hydrotreating in trickle-bed reactor (TBR) system filled with commercial catalysts. The effects of hydrogen pressure (10–16 MPa), reactor temperature (350–410 °C) and liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) (0.25–1 h−1) on hydrotreating performance were investigated while hydrogen to oil volume ratio was maintained constant at 1600 LN/L in all cases. The degree of sulfur removal was greater than nitrogen removal with increasing temperature, pressure and contact time over the commercial catalyst. The TBR system was capable of removing nitrogen and sulfur from 1.14 and 0.34 wt % in the feed to 63 μg g−1 and 8 μg g−1, respectively in the products. Gasoline (<180 °C) and diesel (180–360 °C) fraction were separated from the oil products and analyzed. The gasoline fraction produced from LCT by hydrotreating comply with gasoline specifications for distillation range, sulfur content, induction period and gum presence. But it did not meet the specifications for RON (Research Octane Number) specifications. Diesel fraction produced from LCT meet all quality tests as fuels which could be directly used as motor fuels without upgrading. The results indicated that the raw LCT could be considerably upgraded through catalytic hydrotreating and high-quality fuels were obtained.