Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.93, No.9, 1651-1656, 2015
Catalytic Pyrolysis of Low Rank Canadian Boundary Dam Coal over ZSM-5 and LTL Zeolites
The catalytic pyrolysis of low-rank coal (boundary dam lignite coal) for production of valuable chemical compounds, such as aromatics, over zeolites has been investigated with promising results. In this study, primarily zeolites ZSM-5 (zeolite socony mobil-5) and LTL (Linde type L) were successfully synthesized by a direct hydrothermal method without using any templates, known as structure directing agents (SDAs). Various analysis methods were employed to characterize the parent and modified zeolites before catalyzing the pyrolysis of coal. The H-form of zeolite LTL showed the best performance for phenol, methane, and hydrogen formations in slow pyrolysis of coal at a temperature range of 400-600 degrees C and heating rate of 5 degrees C/min. The effect of zeolite LTL potassium content on changing the coal decomposition path is suggested to enhance the production of these compounds along with cracking activity of the acid sites of the zeolites.