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8327252 
Book/Book Chapter 
SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF COAL 
Pullen, JR 
1983 
Academic Press 
New York, NY, USA 
Coal Sci 
2 
173-288 
English 
Solvent extraction has been one of the most commonly used techniques for studying the chemical properties of coal. Early chemical studies involved Soxhlet extraction with successive solvents. Schemes for fractionating coal were developed using pyridine and benzene under pressure. A wide range of solvents was studied and a connection between their effect on coal and carbonization was established. From the 1920s attention was directed towards solvent extraction of coal at elevated temperatures whereby the coal is thermally decomposed. It was demonstrated that anthracene oil and tetralin at 400 degree C could dissolve almost all of the coal substance. This led to development of a commercial extraction process and forms the basis of recent work on solvent refining of coal and liquefaction in hydrogen donor solvents. Refs.