CO2-Enhanced Tar-Rich Coal Pyrolysis to Produce High-Quality Oil and CO-Rich Gas

  • YANG Duoer ,
  • XU Bang ,
  • SUN Jihong ,
  • BAI Xiaoyan ,
  • DAI Fei ,
  • FAN Maohong
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  • 1. Beijing Key Laboratory for Green Catalysis and Separation, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
    2. China Coal Research Institute Corporation Ltd, Beijing 100083, China
    3. Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
    4. College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
    5. College of Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA

Online published: 2025-07-04

Supported by

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 22308012), and the National Key Laboratory of Efficient Exploitation and Clean Utilization of Coal Resources Open Fund Grant for General Project (2021-CMCU-KF005), and National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2023YFB4102600).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025

Abstract

The present work aims to provide preliminary support and research foundation for developing integrated technology of CO2 utilization and tar-rich coal pyrolysis to produce high-value chemicals and fuels. The chemical properties of tar produced by tar-rich coal pyrolysis under traditional N2 and N2/CO2 atmospheres were investigated in a fixed-bed reactor at different temperatures (600°C–800°C) and atmospheric pressures. The results showed that tar-rich coal pyrolysis under CO2 atmosphere can promote tar production (mass fraction 8.42% increased) compared with that of traditional pyrolysis (under N2), with the maximum value up to 21.26% (in weight). It should be noted that the generation of coal tar and CO small molecule gas can be promoted by increasing the concentrations of CO2 in pyrolysis atmosphere gases. GC-MS and simulated distillation results showed that the CO2 atmosphere can promote the production of light oil components such as phenols, alcohols, and olefins, while inhibiting the production of heavy components such as asphalt simultaneously. Elemental analysis results showed the H/C ratio of coal tar increased under CO2 atmosphere indicating that the high quality of coal tar is improved, which is consistent with that of simulated distillation and GC-MS test. Finally, a possible reaction pathway of tar-rich coal under CO2 atmosphere pyrolysis is also proposed.

Cite this article

YANG Duoer , XU Bang , SUN Jihong , BAI Xiaoyan , DAI Fei , FAN Maohong . CO2-Enhanced Tar-Rich Coal Pyrolysis to Produce High-Quality Oil and CO-Rich Gas[J]. Journal of Thermal Science, 2025 , 34(4) : 1554 -1568 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-025-2149-7

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