Speciation of Heteroatoms in Coal by Sulfur- and Nitrogen-selective Techniquestrogen-selective Techniques

Document Type

Preprint

Publication Date

1994

Journal / Book Title

Fuel

Abstract

The peroxyacetic acid oxidation products from a series of coals of organic sulfur content 0.5-9.8 wt% were examined. The distributions of organic S and N compounds were determined by gas chromatography with sulfur-selective flame photometric and nitrogen-selective thermionic specific detection respectively. A selected sample was also examined in greater detail using low-voltage high-resolution mass spectrometry. The distribution of organic sulfur compounds in the oxidation products was remarkably similar for all the coals. The number of sulfur compounds detected was small compared with that of organic nitrogen compounds detected. This suggests that the sulfur chemistry of coal is considerably simpler than its nitrogen chemistry. Analysis of the m.s. data, together with a comparison of sulfur-selective and nitrogen-selective chromatograms, indicated that a significant proportion of the heteroatomic species present in coal contain more than one heteroatom. This is significant, because few models of coal structure incorporate such species.

Comments

The release of sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere from the combustion of coal is one of the leading causes of acid rain. The successful prevention of these emissions relies on the development of efficient and cost-effective sulfur and nitrogen removal processes. This in turn largely depends on the determination of the chemical structure and reactions of these species in coal.

DOI

10.1016/0016-2361(94)90254-2

Published Citation

Palmer, S.R., Kruge, M.A., Hippo, E.J., and Crelling, J.C., 1994, Speciation of heteroatoms in coal by sulfur-selective and nitrogen-selective techniques. Fuel 73:1167-1172.

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