The various form of sulphur in coal is one of the major sources of atmospheric pollution and restricts industrial application of coal. Desulfurization of coal is one of the interesting topic demanding prompt solutions to meet the energy demands. It has been found that the deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have provided a new opportunity for the extractive desulfurization of various liquid fuels. It is interesting to mention that DESs can be prepared by simple and environmentally friendly process. The choline chloride (ChCl) based DESs are biodegradable, non-toxic, prepared with easily available raw materials and have high desulfurization efficiencies. In present research work, ChCl- based DESs were prepared (by mixing ChCl with urea, malic acid and glycerol) and applied for the coal desulphurization. The coal samples were obtained from the operational coal mines situated in the Chakwal (sample A) and Khushab (sample B) districts of Punjab, Pakistan. The two coal samples under investigation were classified as lignite to sub-bituminous. The sulphur contents (sulphate sulphur, pyritic sulphur, organic sulphur) and calorific values of the coal samples were determined before and after the removal of sulphur. The sulphate, pyrite and organic sulphur contents are 0.07 %. 2.06 % and 0.18 %, respectively for sample A and 0.08%, 1.26 % and 0.21 %, respectively for sample B. The calorific values (before extraction) were found to be 3,598 kcal/kg (sample A) and 5,185 kcal/kg (sample B. The extractive desulphurization of coal was done by maceration, ultra sonic assisted and microwave assisted extraction. The total sulphur contents were removed considerably (up to 80 %) by applying choline chloride and malic acid mixture (1:1) for both samples. There was negligible change in the calorific values after the desulphurization of coal. The desulphurization of coal is also characterized by FTIR studies. This study has shown that the DESs would be potential green solvent for the desulphurization of coal.

Desulphurization of coal using choline chloride based deep eutectic solvents

254th National Meeting (2017)

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