Sulfur removal from coal with supercritical fluid treatment

Conversion and sulfur removal of coal in sub- and supercritical water was studied in a micro reactor in the temperature range of 340-400 degrees C and water density 0-0.27 g/cm(3) for 0-90 min under N-2 atmosphere. The experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of reaction temperature, pressure, time and density of water on the sulfur removal in gaseous and liquid effluents, respectively. The results show that supercritical condition is more effective than sub-critical condition to remove the sulfur from coal. It is possible to reduce 57.42% of the original sulfur in coal for the reaction time of 90 min at 400 degrees C and 30 MPa. The main gas containing sulfur in the gaseous effluent is not SO2 but H2S, irrespective of operating condition. The sulfur removal in liquid effluents is much greater than that in gas effluents. Compared with temperature, the influence of water density and pressure is less significant.