Wyoming is the largest coal producer in the United States producing hundreds of million tons of coal per year. The majority of Wyoming coal resides in the Powder River Basin (PRB) and is subbituminous in character. Different reactions and solvent extraction methods can harvest the moderately aromatic phenolic rich molecules from this coal. The oxygen rich coal, and the phenolic rich extract fractions, are ideal for a variety of follow-on chemistries to modulate product properties—allowing it to be turned it into an asphalt-like material with the proper solubility and mechanical properties amenable to standard paving practices, equipment while also compatible with petroleum asphalt. Tetralin is a classical hydrogen donor system that can extract a significant amount of coal, however care must be taken to minimize pyrolysis to ensure a minimum amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are generated so that the material will not pose environmental health and safety issues for paving applications. Certain tetralin extracted fractions, which are low in PAHs and rich in phenolics, have been reacted with renewable sources of fatty amines and fatty acids to produce black viscous oils and viscoelastic materials with asphalt-like properties. When fatty amine chemistry is applied to coal directly—at relatively high temperatures—more than 70% of the coal can be extracted to produce a toluene-soluble material which has the ability to soften oxidized asphalt. This softening effect shows that the coal derived products can act as a rejuvenator for asphalt recycling. Details about the chemical nature of some extracts, the follow-on chemistry of the extracts and coal, and some asphalt based performance characterization will be presented.

Coal based asphalt, and asphalt products, derived from coal and coal extracts reacted with renewable carbon feedstocks

ACS Fall 2021

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