Hydroprocessing of coal-derived residuum

Catalytic hydroprocessing of coal-derived residuum is typically performed in the presence of a distillate solvent to minimize experimental problems associated with high-boiling materials; however, this limits the amount of useful information that can be obtained on the reactivity of the residuum itself. In the present investigation, an ash-containing coal-derived residuum was catalytically hydrotreated in the absence of a solvent in a batch microreactor to obtain information regarding the hydrogenation-dehydrogenation equilibrium of the residuum. The residuum was also separated into five fractions by using a novel supercritical fluid procedure, and the reactivity of each fraction was determined. Little difference was observed in the hydrogenation reactivity of the five fractions, but differences were observed in the removal of heteroatoms.