Kinetic study for liquefaction of tar in sub- and supercritical water

Liquefaction of tar from oil distillation was studied under sub- and supercritical water conditions using a batch reactor at 623 and 673 K and 25-40 MPa. The reaction scheme for tar liquefaction was determined as follows: the liquefaction process of tar occurs first and then intermediate chemical compounds are transformed into lighter molecular weight species. The effects of pressure and treatment time were combined into a single severity parameter that was used to monitor the conversion of tar. The main products from the liquefaction of tar were phenol (3.44 wt%), biphenyl (2.23 wt%), diphenylether (13.70 wt%) and diphenylmethane (1.30 wt%), respectively. Liquefaction of tar clearly increased with increasing water density at the same temperature reaction. It indicates that hydrolysis was important in the cleavage of the macromolecular structure of tar under sub- and supercritical conditions. Based on the results, this method could become an efficient method for tar liquefaction, producing high yields of valuable chemical intermediates. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.