A STUDY OF THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED BY THE USE OF ALCOHOLIC POTASH ON VARIOUS COALS BY GRAEME LINDLEY ATKINSON THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1922 I 322 At 54 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS May 3 THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY . Gr ae me _ Li nils v _A tk i n8.ori- ITLED ^ Stuay of the Products ottaineci by the use of Alcoholic Pots.8h on Various Coals IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering Instructor in Charge Approved AT ACTING HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF __CHMJ_STRY . Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/studyofproductsoOOatki ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to Dr. T. E. Layng for his valuable help and direction given throughout this investigation. • - .. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction 1. II. Nature of the Problem. 1. III . History 1. IV. Theorectical 4. V. Purpose of Investigation.... 6. VI. Experimental 7. VII. Discussion 11. VI I I. Summary 16. IX. Bibliography.... 17. 1 . INTRODUCTION Coal, although compounded of the element* carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, and inorganic salts is a very complex material about which very little is known. A great dkl of researoh and investigation has been carried on in order to learn more about the substances or compounds that make up this complex. The three most successful methods of attacking the problem have been found to be (l) Microscopic examination, (3) Separation by means of reagents and solvents, (3) Study of the products resulting from carbonization. In recent years it has been found that the best reeults are obtained by combining the second and the third methods. For the carbonization of coal is the important question of today and the future, and with this fact in view the combined solvent and carbonization work with coal has been carried out. Because of the rapid depletion of our good coking coals, methods for coking what are now poor or non-coking coals must be obtained. In order to do this the action of the different constituents of good cok- ing coals must be understood. NATURE OF THE PROBLEM The nature of the problem wa3 a study of the products obtain- ed from various coals with the use of alcoholic potash as a reagent. HISTORY A brief history of the use of reagent and solvents on coal na y hel P t0 a better understanding of the problems and factors in this investigation. It is very difficult to distinguish between those substances I 2 which are considered pure solvents, and those which attack the original substances and are considered as reagents. The pure solvents are benzene, chloroform, ethyl alcohol, acetone, phenol, xylene, anddi -phenol ether. The reagents which have been used are sulphuric acid, nitric acid, caustic alkalies, bromine, ozone and oxygen. The first work by solvents was done by Dr. Stay the 1 on coal in 1851. He extracted a brown coal with benzene, chloroform, alcohol, ethyl ether, acetone and petroleum ether. The benzene extract was 3 percent, the chloroform extract 1.8 percent, the alcohol extract 2.4 percent. Reisnch in 1885 ~ considered coal to be composed of two types of substances, which could be distinguished by their action towards alkaline solutions. With an alkaline solution he was able to isolate substances which were very characteristic in not being attack by mineral acids. Anderson and Roberta in 1888 3 used caustic alkali as a reagent for coal. They found that boiling weak coking coals for one and one-half hours in 5 percent alkali destroyed their coking properties, while it had no effect upon strong coking coals. This indicated that only some of the resinic constituents were saponif- iable. They heated a large number of coals for three hours at 300 degrees, and then extracted with caustic potash. By treating the extract solution with cone, acid a bulky flocqulent precipitate of a brownish color. The yields of extract were found to increase when the coal had previously been oxidized. Some of the coals were treated with nitric acid and then with caustic alkali, a large percentage of the coal was extracted. The ultimate analysis V . . . 3 . of the extract showed a decrease in carbon and hydrogen, and an increase in oxygen and nitrogen over that of the original coal. They gave the analysis of the extract as carbon 58-63.8, hydrogen 2.75-3.3, oxygen 28-32., nitrogen 3. 3-4. 8 and sulphur .3-. 7 per- cent. They concluded that the coking is not caused by nitrogen- ous constituents, but the nitrogen free bodies associated with them; and the ease with which these bodies are decomposed or volatized in differednt coal governs their coking properties. Donath and Margos ches in 1502 4 added powdered permanganate to their alkali solvent. They heated till there was no further reduction, reduced the excess of permanganate with sodium formate and filtered. The filtrate, after acidification, was treated with a solution of calcium chloride. A precipitate of calcium oxalate was obtained. Theare experiments show that lignites and bituminous coals contain a substance or substances which on oxidation give rise to acids ( probably humic acids) that on further oxidation give oxalic acid. Boudouard in 1919 5 found that coals after oxidation in air contained acidic products which were soluble in alkali. An experiment was made on seven different classes of coals. The coals were first oxidized at 105 degrees, then treated with a 5 percent solution of caustic potash, the soluble portion filtered off and precipitated by cone, hydrochloric acid; this precipitate was washed and dried at 110 degrees. These extracts resembled the humic afcids found in peat and had the formulae C ^ H ]_4 0 g an(i Cl- H ie Cg . It was noted that the extraction was greatest from the lignite and bituminous coals. He found that only coals appro- aching lignites contained these acids in the natural state . • • * . ■ . . . ,«