Coals of different ranks were heat-treated at temperatures up to 300
C in the aprotic dipolarsolvent
N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) with addition of lithium halides (LiCl, LiBr, and LiI).The treated products were extracted using a carbon disulfide/NMP (CS
2/NMP) mixed solvent(1/1 by vol), and the dissolution yields were determined from the weight of the insoluble material.Addition of small amounts of lithium halides to CS
2/NMP mixed solvent was reported to enhancethe room-temperature extraction yields for some high-rank coals, while little effect was observedfor low-rank coals (
Energy Fuels 2001,
15, 141). On the other hand, in the present study, heattreatment in the presence of LiCl showed a greater effect on dissolution for low-rank than forhigh-rank coals. For low-rank Banko 97 coal (%C:70.0%), the dissolution yield was increased by41.4% at 300
C, from 50.4% in NMP alone to 91.8% with the addition of 2.4 mmol/g-coal LiCl,and the increased dissolution yield was attributed mainly to an increase in the amount of theheavy fraction; CS
2/NMP-soluble and THF-insoluble (TIMS). Furthermore, the temperature ofheat treatment (175-300
C) and the quantity of LiCl added (0.6-3.6 mmol/g-coal) markedlyaffected the dissolution yield. When different lithium halides were used, the dissolution yieldwas increased in the order Cl
- > Br
- > I
-; higher charge density of the anion of the additive wasassociated with higher dissolution yield. The mechanism of the observed effect of addition ofLiCl on coal dissolution is discussed.