A STUDY OF THE FINE STRUCTURE OF CARBONACEOUS SOLIDS BY AND APPARENT 1)ENSI'I'IES MEASUREMENTS or( TRUE PART 11. -CARDOSIZED COALS 13~ ROSALIND E. FRANKLIN Received 15th Februnty, 1949 hl~~cisurenieriti of tlie true arid apparent dcnsi ties and adsorptive propertic of coals carbonized :it 6o0-1,6jo0 C 1i;ive been uscd to study the variation 0 tlic colloidal structure with the teinper:tt lire of carbonization. It is shown tha the true density increases with increasing carbonization temperature, reaching lhe porosity of particles small enough to pass a 240 n.s. sieve is large (from ubont 2.1 g./c111.~ at I,IOO-I,~OO~ C. I. 7 yo to z j yo) and increases with incrcasing carbonization 600" to r,ooo0 C. tc.mperatiire between 600" and 800" C. The acccssibili surfaces to liquids and gases decreases with iiicreuing tiire in the rnnge 6m9 to r,hoo" C ant1 1s governed by the in the pore systein rather than by tlic meail diameter of pores which are uniforLn alorlg their Ir.ngtJi. molecular sieves, the width of the coilstrictions in the pore system being of the same order as the diameters of tlie simple Inolecules ustd for the density The specific surface increase with As a result of this pore structure, the solids function Rob YLIND E FRANKLIN 669 ementy (I e z to 5 A) `1111s niolecular sieve stiucturr must be of im- ce In determining both thL chiinical behaviour of the solid and the sltlon of the gas evolved during carhomLation aviour of colcc prepared froin any given coal 13 the niaxiiiiuni carbonization temperature In s of rencti-i-ity nheii the temperature of carbon- o3 C (the exact terriperxture `Lnrics fioin coal to is reflected in inmv of the physical and chemical tcrial To1 excirnplr, thc adsorption of carbon to sulphriric acid, the dispersibilitv in sulphuric erature and thc `` wrnbustibility " of a number decrease rdpidly with iiicreailiig carbonization C.l In an attempt to inveitigate the undeilyiiig nnon, Griffith and Hirst rnadc an extensive alcohol vapours md showed that the apparent OSIII~: to the aiinosphr~ie for 48 hr. was greatcst about 700° C and that tlir rate of adsorption ii e drcrcnied i,~pdly nith iciitlier iiiciea~e in a large voliiin~ of L try fine pores and ;L large coals whic 11 giire iio bubble-strui tuie hloreovei, the f tlic poiosity 15 letioll, Correction for Mineral Matter.--The density valnes recorded have in all cases been corrected for the iniiiercil contrnt uf ihc s'inlples by uz'o ot tl,k correction formula of Waridlcss and Macrae.8 rUtlioufli the mineral corlterlt of carlxmized coals is soine\~hat greater than that of raw coals, the uncertainty in the density correction is 1t:ss since the co~iipsition of the, mineral ni;l{tef differs less from that of the ash whose density xvxs tlctcrmincd. The corrcctiod did not exceed 3 yo lor auy of the carbonized coals used. FINE S'TRUC'l'URE OF CARBONACEOUS SOLIDS Measurement of Density.-The apparatus and methods used for the' Density " Drift ".-Tlic '' density drift," or iticrcnsc of app'ircnt densit In helium, measurements were nonnall iii a few cases the densit Results APPARENT 1)ENSITIES OF C0hr.S C,\Rl3oKIZED AT 'rE>lPERATURES Up TO rGjoo C.-Measurements of the densities of coals c, 17, 11 and K carborrizcd at temperatures from 300-1650" C wcre inado \vi tli hclinm, methanol, water ailti n-hexane. With cod 11, carbon disulphide was also used and witli con1 K, bznzciie. Jn Fig. I to 4, densities :LTC plotted against carbonizatiorl telllPer- aturc for tcmpcratures up to IO~O" C. The full-l~ne curves in the FWrcs represent clensity values after 24 hr. iinmersion in the licluic1s anc~ t~ic iid \,al~eS obtained with helium, and the bi-olccn line curves represent apparent densities' ' Franklin, Tram Flcraday Soc., 1949, 45, 274. 8 \.\'andless and Macrae, Fuel, 1'434, 13, 4. I - 2.0 - If-8 -1.4 ROSA I, I K D E. I; R AK KI, I N 1 I 1 1-- 1 673 674 FINE STRUCTUR I;: OF CARBONACEOUS S0LIL)S after 2-hr. immersion in liquids and the first 1-ecoi-ded values in heliuni. The height of the shaded areas is a measme of the density ~lrifts. (The initial values recorded here and elsewhere for sample-: which slioiv a large drift in hellurn refer to measurements made as quickly a possible after admitting the gas to the sample ; they have only qualitative sign iicance.*) X Fleliuni. 0 Methanol. 0 \I:ater fl rz-Hexane. A Benzene. TEXPEItATLIREs BELOW jOOO C.-fielour 500" c: the val 1d.t ion of apila dciiritv with carbonization tenipcrat~re is differmt for e,ic!i of the four c investigx-, of coal II in water, n-hexane arid lie :id of coal K in water and in n-liexane are slightly decveased I)p heating to 30 arid apprtrent densities in mi~t11:tilol in all exes increase cclntinuously wit creasing carboiii-ation t ernperarure. For the anthracite c there is no apprcciahlr change. trvecn 500" C and 600" C t. c sets in allrl the densi ly that large and signifi 600°C arid rooo"C. The sults for coals c, H and K may be surrimarlzet~ as follows. n-15exsrie' gives a low de~isity value which jncre;~ses continuously wi creasing carbonization temperature and shows no appreciable drift. The obtained xvitli benzene fur coal K are similar. Helinni gives a density N' from 7 yo to 23 yo in excess of the n-hexane valtie ant1 which increases rapidly with increasing carbonization tvmperature. \Vheii the temp" of treatment rises above about goo" C the density in hcliurn bcgins to stlo drift, and at 1000~ C the drift IS large and the initial density is only sllL excess of the density in n-hcxane. between the sample and the thermostat was estah1ishi:d before the was admitted. * In all cases sullicient time elapsed to ensure that thermnl cquili IIOSALIXD E. FRANKT,IN 67 5 e density in methanill exceeds that in helium for all carbonization tcn- Tc.5 up to 700' C. Between Goo" C and 750" C a density drift in methanol p to appear and increascs with increasing carbonization teniperat~irc. out 800" C the density in methanol (nieasiired after 24-hr. immersion) through a maximum, and between Soo3 and gooo C it tlccrcases sharply to e approxiinatcly equal to thc n-hcxane value. At 1,000~ C the tlensities ll:~nol and in whexanc are equal and show no drift. variation of the apparent density in lvater is simi1;tr to that observed ncthanol, except that the cori-esImntliilg changes occur about IOO~ C Up to 800" C the density in wattr ~lio~vvs no drift sn(1 is ody slightly han that in helium. Fktwcen 800" and ($00' C: a density drift develops, *After nmtion at 1,000~ C the densities of the coals c and K in water are cqual le low, n-hexane valnes and show 110 drift, while with coal II th, density . slightly higher than the n-hexane value and the drift is small. rijoi~ disulphidc gives apparent densities for the c:titionizcd coal H which -1ltical with the methanol values for carbonization temperaturcs up to . Between 600' and goo" C the apparent densltics in carbon disulphide tiler higher than in methanol, although a density drift is obsei-ved in xiinztely the same temperature range for the two liquids. After carbon- at 1,000~ C the apparent density in carbon disulpliidc is equal to the 11 Cod F.-The density changes which occur in the coal F in the teniper- re range 6oo-1,ooo" C are fundamenta.lly siniLir to those descirbed above oak c, H, and K, hut differ significantly in two respects. -tly, the density of this coal in n-111 xane increases niore rapidly with mation temperature, and the differ-enc(. between the densit ir:s irl hellam hexane for any one carbonization tempcratlire is lcss ; in methanol and the maxima which appear in the curvcs for thi. other tlrree coals are ed into strong inflexions. Sccondly, all the cha~ occur about 100' C for the coal F than for the coals c, H and K. The clri densitv in methanol below GOO" C and at 800" C the density- in inc ol has -fallen to the ne value. At gooo C thc density in wrater is equal to tiiat in n-hexanc. it? drift in helium begins below 800" C and at ~,ooo' C the density in too has fallen to the n-hexnne level a~id shows 110 (Jrift. ' results described above show clcarly that after lrt\.iting to fho0 there is, ur coals, a large pore volunie which is accessible io hcliiim but inaccessihle iiensity after 24-hr. immersion is at a maximuni at about 900" C;. 2-hexane value and shows no drift. -7 -I I .. J CARBOVIZATION TEWPFHAIUPE. 'C FIG. 5.--Coal F-. x Helium A n-Erexallc ane. As the carbonization temperature is irrcreasett aho~e Goo' this umc is increased ; at the same time, liow~ ver, it becomes Icss accrssible .Methanol, carbon clisulphide and wa ~r are successip-cly cxLlucled, r carbonization at ~,oooO, helium too i fid penetrates on1y slowly in the other co 676 FINE S'I'RLCTUIIF; OF CAICEIOX.ZCEOUS SOL,1 IX The loiv values obiained with 11-hexane for the coals carbonized above boon, are sharply defined and the apparent d a real characteristic of the solid mate ty in this liquid appears to rcpres~n There is no appreciable drift, an 01 and carbon clisulphide fall to th On the othcr hand, apparent densities helium values are associated with large drifts, showing that penetration of the pores bq- the liquids is slow and inconlpl,te RANGE 1,000~ C; to 1,650' C.-The general pattern of the results outli above is further clarified by measurenients made on sariiples cuboiiized teinpcratnres above 1,000'' C. Results for coals I' and H are shomm in l?i, and 0. hj For each of thc three coals c, F and H carb,,nized at l,OooO, the denjlties I 1. 500 7w I000 1250 lsoo CARBONIZATION TEMPERATURE ,'C IZIC G.-Cod li. 2: Heliuni. k> n-I-lexane. given by nietlinnol, Tvater and ?z-hcxari, :ire FcIiia1 and show no drift, and this is true alio of higher carboniLatlon terllp:1-atures. in helium, too, coiitinucs eqi~il to tlie \ralue (,htained with the liquids. For tlic coal P, the tlci T i teni1~eratur-c from I,OOO~ C, to r,6.50° id coal I' in hcliiitri ani1 in liquids incr The density of the carbonized co;~l 11, ineasurcd in mcthaiiol, \vater or 12- liexane, incrcaaes only slowly above I,OOO', reaching ~'75 g./c111.~ at 1,600' C The density in hcliuin at first increases, anti tlien decreases to thc Ion value given by the liquids.* The highcst densities in lielium are associ,itcd with large arid prolonged drifts. 'i'he nlaximurii YaIue recorded was 2'03 g./~rn.~ io carbonization teinperatiirc of 1,100- I, I 30' 1iut siiicc the drift was Ilot foil<)\ to conlpktion, this figure is lower than the true density of the snnlpl? ; a 1116. value was olitaiiietl when the sample W;LS nore finely ground (sce below). The Influericc of Particle Size on Apparent L)ensity.-All the res1il.k described above were obraiiied \\.it11 s;iniplej grountl to pass a 72 1I.S. sieve. Mensuremetits ivc1-e also 111;ide 011 smiples of co;~ carbonized at terI1perature~ above 600' C mid ground to pass a 210 B.S. SIC . The results are .iho\m in Tabie V. Tlie dcnsity 111 ~iictl~a~iol of the sa111pl arboriized at Soj" C and the densities in ~ieliu~n of tilose carbonize(! at I, loo0 and I,2jcJ" c were consider:.l+ * The density in helium of the anthracite c carbonized at 1,4jo@ C ~holvs no drift and 1s equal to thc n-hexane value (oht;tiried by intcrpolatiot~) for cod Ii carbonized at the iame temperature. SlJice t1ie apparent densities of t anthracite c and of tht. coal H carbonized hetv~een 700~ and 1,ooo" C and measllr in helium, watt-r and whexane are almost identical (see Pig. I and 3), it is Pro''- able that tlie density of coal II in helium after carbonization at 1,450' c \\ be equal to the low tz-hexane value ani1 would have no drift. This redt takcn into account 1.1 drawing the broken part of the helium curvc in F@ '' lIOS-41,IND E. FRA?U'KLIN 677 increased by reducing the particle size. On the other hand, the resulrs obtained %,iell n.hexane for sanlpies carbonized above 800' C and with helium for those Thus, where no density drift was rved the density was not increased by grinding to the lower size limit. density drift in helium of the samplc carbonized at 1,000' C was completed nsiderably less than 24 hr., and in this case, too, the density measured after l'or samples which showed large density drifts, the apparciit density after a given time was highly below 1,ooo' C were not altered. hr, \vas independent of the particle size. 3 pendent on the particle size of the material. TABLE V.-~FLUBNCE OF k'AKTICL*> SlZZ ON r\PPAlIENT IhXSITY OF (;ARIIONIZED <:OAT2 €1 Size 72 H.S. 72 i3.S. 240 1'1,s. 72 E.S. 72 U.S. 240 r3.s. 240 1i.s. 240 13,s. 72 B.S. 240 13,s. PI .:lium Drift, Yo The maxiniiini density valuc recorded \vas ~.(ii) g./cni.3 for coal H c;trbonized The true density of the material cxcr;~xls this value, since ii slight iooO C. was still observable aftcr 'j clay~s. Influence of Riolecular Size.--The order in w-hicli n-hexane, nit.tliano1, licliunii are eucluilcd froin the pims ;is I lie (.,irhonization ternper;tture - the s;init: for each of tile four wiclc~l)~ different coals c, F, ii ~i~itl K. tl I e ord er of decrc as i ng molccul r~~ si zi: . Furt1it.r nieasurenir:n t s tlic carbonized coal I{ with accioriz, rther, c,hlorr-iform anti carbon tliesc, together with thr resiiits olitaiiicd with cai-hu~i disulpliidc I :mtd with benzcne for cor11 K ~CJIifirlii tlia t rriolccular size is the principal icictor determining the po.,ver of organic liq111~1.; to pciietratc into the pores of The results obtxinctl with 8 liquids :ind with hchum for cod onized at tenilpratiircs betweeri 7m0 ant1 I ,000' C are givcri iri Table VI, ier with tlic molecular volumcs of the liquids at 2.j' C. The 4 liqiiids .have the largest niolecular volunici give appareii t densities approxinintcly to the low, .n-hexane values. Iio apparent dciisities appreciably lover 'chn tile n-hexxiie va~ues have been observed. Adsorption of Gases on Carbonized Coal .--The density of he-structured c*ybonaceous solids cannot be measured in gases other than helium si~~ce all ohr gases are to sonie extent atisorbed ature. Howevcr, since ts of the apparent rate of penetration of gases , the roon-temperature of hydroKen, methane and oxygen on coal H carbonized at Goo", ,ooo' C briefly investigated. 'lhc apparatus and method M ere as those used for the nieasureinents of densities with Iicliuri~. The e of the sample was first determined with helium, which was then , and the measurements repeated with one of the other gases. The etwveeii the apparent v,ilumes of the sample in this gas and in hclliuin als. adsorption is a very rapid proc ption may serve to study qualit fine poi-cs in carbonized coals. gave vo~ume of the gas adsorbed. '4 * €Ieliuni . . Water . hIethaiio1 Carbon di- sulphide . Acetone Chloro foiin Carbon Letr,i- chloride . Ether , rkIisity, g./c111.~ Lknsity aftcr 2'1 hr,, g/cin." Drift, "/; (2 hr. to z,+ lrr.) Density aftrr 24 hr., g./~rn.~ Drift, yo (2 lir. to 24 hr.) Density after 24 hr., g./cin.3 Drift, (2 hr. to 24 hr.) Density after 24 hr., g./cn~.~ ljrift, yo (L hr. to '4 hr.) Dcnqity after 24 1 ,I-. , g . /.In, 3 Drift, (2 lir. to 24 lir ) Ilcnsity after 2'1 hr. g./c111.~ Drift, yo (2 hr. to 24 hr.) Iknsity aftei- 24 ]'rift, 9.; (2 111.. Jlcrisity after 2.1 lir., g,,'c~ri.:~ Drift, O/(j (2 lit t(J 24 1ii.j DZlft, 9; 111.. , g , /LIIl.R t estaiilislied ROSALIND E. FRANIr I i !. ;liter e uation arid hcfor-i. acl:n1ttiIig The prewiice of air would otiviously iniIicde the diff1is;oii of a liqiiiii mi-t:s, and tlie s;inic treatii~r:rit did, in fa( t, reduce considerably the cleiisity of the s:mie sarnplt,s in 1net11;inol. LIorcover, hI;iggs 11~1s Tli- amount satnrativii pi-cssure at 2.j' C corresponds approximntcly to that rm a monolayer 011 thi: external siirface CII the powder. ay lie considered to 1ne:iiiire thc. true density of carlmnizeci ci~al.: rbonization temperature is riot so high that tlie gas is excliidcd floni r a part of tlie pore space. This conditian IS inlfillcd for i.oal> r, rboiiized at temperatures up to (poo C, and ff.)r roal F at teriiperaturi,s It folloivs thctt tIi\; fine-struc.ture pui-clsity of tlicsc inateiials is when %rmplcs c,i ct-d R P'' e adsorption of n-hexane on coal K carhoniied at Goo". ? C. P = (dHe - dhex)/41e, and dhex are the dcnsities in kwliuin and n-hexane respectively. 9,' P is piottcci against carI>onizc+tion terriperature. It is seen ttiat ut the range of carbonization temperature for wliich thi true density le (by helium) the fine-structure iiorosity increases urith increasing fiile-structure porosity increases wli~le the acccssihility of tlie . This 1e;xds to the conclusion tht the accessibility of the pores ' the size and frequency of fine constrictions or " bottle-nccks " tern, and not by the mean t11,tnietrr of pores which are u~iifonii @h. The alternative assumption of unifolm pores would require casing temperatiire, the dianieter of thr Ipres steadily decreased r all fonr coals. 682 FINE STRUC'IUICE OF CARBONhC'II0'IJ.S SOI,IUS while their number increased r;tpidly, new pores formed at any one tempt.rature being narrower than those formed at a lo~x-er temperature. In such a system the increase in porosity would be accompanied by a still larger increase in specific surface. er, that between 800" a11tl I,OOO' C the spc,cific surface decreases while the purosity increases. Tilc striictural changes which accompany increasing car1)onization temper- ature between 600' and 1,000" are associated with tlie 10s.: of volatile tlecom- position products froin a rigid solid. 'Thc existence of the clccomposition products (mainly CO, CII, and H,) implies that there is a re-arrangement of sur-face atoms or small group;; of atoms within the solid. This nlay be su:ficient to account It has been shown, 1x1 0 Coal c. 1:: Coal 17. Q Coal 11, x Coal I< for the creation of a niore lij@iy constricted pore system resultlrlg from iiicrtascd interriiicellar con- tacts. A similar effcLt iiiay per- Iiay~s account for tlie slight de- crease in surface area between 600' and 1,ooo0 by eli~niiiation of surface roughess. The increase in fine-structure porosity, on the other hand, shows that the rigitl. it>- of the structure is too great (ur the carbonization temlxrature too low) to perinit such large- scale rc.-arraiigcmcrit as wo~ld 1ae iiecesxary to compelrsnte for the loss of volatile matter and the increase in true density. >lolecular Sieve Properties of (hrbonized Coals.--Thp \olunie of fine pores in coals carbonized at I,OOO" C or at Liglicr tcniperzitures niay arnount to more than 20 y:, of the volume of the solid. 1;or carbonization t f: nip era tu 1-r s bcs twccn 6ooo and I ,o0oo (; ti.e solitls i~i,liavc as niolccnlar :IICV~S ; in any given s,i:iiple dl iiiolecules lxi-g~,r than ;L ct,rtain s,ixe .LTC c,oiriplctcly psclii lctl froni tt,c pores. Car- I,01117d coals ni;~y hi. cijinpnrcti pcc,t with thc zeoiitcs lktrrvr,M altiiougli tlieu cai);xity is 111111~11 less