Solvent
extraction of a South African bituminous coal was carried
out under mild conditions (<400 °C) with a holding time of
20 min and an initial nitrogen (N2) pressure of 6 MPa.
Thermal degradation of coal with phenol results in the depolymerization
of the coal, yielding coal-derived liquids and insoluble residues.
The effectiveness of phenol for solvent extraction of coal within
the temperature range of 300–360 °C was investigated,
with a focus on the quality of the coal-derived liquids. It was found
that an increase in temperature from 300 °C to 360 °C resulted
in an increase in the conversion and yields of both oil and gas, and
a reduction in the intermediate components (preasphaltenes + asphaltenes,
PAAs). The conversion and extraction yields of hexane-soluble (HS)
oils were 49.5% (daf) and 26.3% (daf), respectively (daf = dry ash-free),
for thermal depolymerization reactions at 360 °C. It seems that
the extraction process dissolves molecular fragments of the coal,
because the infrared spectra of the coal and the extraction products
are similar. The SimDis results of the coal-derived liquids (300–360
°C) indicated that the samples consisted of light vacuum gas
oil (23–31 wt %), distillate fuel oil (16–30
wt %), heavy vacuum gas oil (18–34 wt %), and
residual oil (3–16 wt %). These results show the potential
of phenol as a solvent to extract South African bituminous coal at
mild temperatures for value-added liquid fuels and add to the general
knowledge of the potential utilization of the Permian-aged South African
bituminous coals.