LAUSR

Abstract The reaction of volatiles in a coal pyrolysis reactor determines the yield and quality of tar. This paper studies the yield, group composition and radical concentration of tars obtained from pyrolysis of a subbituminous coal, mainly on the effect of the tars' residence time in the pyrolysis reactor and in post-pyrolysis heating. The latter operation simulates the environment of tars, if they were in a large fast pyrolysis reactor. It is found that an increase in the volatiles' residence time in the pyrolysis reactor reduces the yield and increases the radical concentration of tars. The pitch fraction of the tars is mainly responsible for coke formation which occurs significantly at temperatures higher than 420 °C. The tars contain radicals, mainly in their coke and pitch fractions. The coke concentration in the tars increases with increasing heating time, linearly at 420 and 450 °C but in a sigmoidal pattern at higher temperatures. The coking behavior within 10 min can be expressed by the zero-order or zero-order + autocatalytic kinetics with activation energies of 128–138 kJ/mol.