Kinetics data have been determined for the catalytic hydroprocessing of the acidic fractions of a heavy distillate of a liquid derived from Powhatan No. 5 coal. A commercial, sulfided Ni-Mo/..gamma..-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ catalyst was used in the experiments, carried out at 350/sup 0/C and 120 atm with the coal liquid fractions dissolved in cyclohexane. The feed and hydrotreated products were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The data were analyzed with group-type methods for compound classes, and results were also obtained for some individual organooxygen compounds. Catalytic hydroprocessing leads to a large increase in the number of compounds and a shift to lower boiling ranges. The data are broadly consistent with reaction networks determined with pure compounds; the most important reactions include aromatic ring hydrogenation, hydrodeoxygenation, and hydrodemethylation. Pseudo first-order rate constants for conversion of the predominant organooxygen compounds are on the order of 10/sup -4/ L/(g of catalyst.s); the reactivity decreases in the order cyclohexylphenol > dimethylhydroxyindane > tetrahydronaphthol > phenylphenol > 1-naphthol. 12 references, 15 figures, 5 tables.

A new method of structural analysis is applied to a group of hydroliquefied coal samples. The method uses elemental analysis and NMR data to estimate the concentrations of functional groups in the samples. The samples include oil and asphaltene fractions obtained in a series of hydroliquefaction experiments, and a set of 9 fractions separated from a coal-derived oil. The structural characterization of these samples demonstrates that estimates of functional group concentrations can be used to provide detailed structural profiles of complex mixtures and to obtain limited information about reaction pathways. 11 references, 1 figure, 7 tables.