Liquefaction of a series of high volatile bituminous coals recovered over a 300m depth interval

A suite of high-volatile bituminous coal samples, spanning a 300m depth interval, was gathered from a single bore core in the Surat Basin, Queensland. Elemental analyses revealed a small reduction in O and small increase in C as a function of depth. Chromatograms from Py-GC-MS analysis appeared almost identical for all samples - only subtle differences could be gleaned from an examination of selected single ion chromatograms. Liquefaction yields, determined using the hydrogen donor solvent tetralin (and without catalyst), varied with the H/C ratio (but not with depth). By contrast the products produced by hydrogenation in the absence of solvent, but using Sn as catalyst, showed clear differences as a function of depth. By 1H-NMR, an increase in the concentration of 'waxy hydrocarbons' was noted with depth. GC-MS analysis revealed an increase in the concentration of aromatic compounds as a function of depth.