| The main objective of this work was to convert aromatic compounds, representative of coal-derived liquids, into high octane compounds low in aromatics. The thermodynamic possibilities of the reactions were investigated. For this study, 1-methylnaphthalene was chosen as a model compound. Experiments were performed in single- and two-stage systems, and the liquid and gaseous products were analyzed after each stage and experiment.; The model compound was treated with various catalysts at different reaction conditions in the single-stage operation. The highest conversion to isoparaffins and substituted cyclohexanes and cyclopentanes, 40.1%, was achieved with a NiW/SiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}-Al{dollar}sb2{dollar}O{dollar}sb3{dollar} catalyst. Optimum condition for production of the components with high octane numbers was determined to be 325{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C and 1000 psi in a reaction time of 3 h with a feed to catalyst ratio of 10 to 1.; In the two-stage operation, 1-methylnaphthalene was hydrogenated to methyldecalins at 325{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C with almost 100% conversion in the first stage, using a NiMo/TiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}-Al{dollar}sb2{dollar}O{dollar}sb3{dollar} catalyst. In the second stage, the methyldecalins underwent hydrocracking reactions at different reaction conditions using various catalysts. Pd/REX exhibited the best result for the production of high octane gasoline without aromatics at 300-325{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C.; The mass balance and gas fractions were calculated for each experiment. It was found that propane was the dominant hydrocarbon in the gaseous mixture when NiW/SiO{dollar}sb2{dollar}-Al{dollar}sb2{dollar}O{dollar}sb3{dollar} was used at the optimum conditions for single-stage experiments. Iso-butanes, the most desirable product in the gases, were obtained in the highest yields when using Pd/REX as catalyst at 300-325{dollar}spcirc{dollar}C in the second stage of the two-stage system.; The results showed promise for reducing the aromatic content in coal liquids to less than 2%, while achieving a potential conversion to high octane gasoline components of 60.1% by weight. The optimum conditions are within the range of current industrial processes. |
