Tamarkina Y. Thermolysis and activation of coals structurally modified in HNO3-Ac2O system

The thesis is devoted to research of interaction of different rank (Cdaf=74-95%) Ukrainian coals with nitric acid - acetic anhydride mixture. Under this interaction coal transforms into new coal-derived product - structurally modified coal (SMC). It was stated that spatial and molecular structure of parent coal dramatically changes. The main reactions leading to above mentioned changes are the following: nitration, aliphatic groups transformations into O-containing groups, partial cleavage of C-C and C-O-C bridges between basic structural units. The side process is low-temperature combus-tion of coal. The thermodestruction of SMCs in whole range of rank was also investigated. The volatile product yields and rates of SMC's decomposition were described as depend-ences on thermolysis temperatures and parent coal rank. Bas-ing on the infrared spectroscopy of solids and gases the main thermodestruction reactions were proposed. It was proved, that previous structural modification in HNO3-Ac2O system affectsthe activation process. For the first time dependences of surface area development on activation time, temperature, and activant/coal ratio were studied. The modification followed by activation allows to prepare activated carbon with well-developed surface area (up to 2000 m2/g).