Heat Treatment of Pitch Obtained from Atmospheric Fixed-Bed Coal Gasification

Phiciato Phiciato (TEKMIRA Research Center for Minerals and Coal, Ministry of Energy and Mineral, Resources of the Republic of Indonesia, Jl. Jenderal Sudirman No. 623, Bandung 40211, Indonesia)
Ika Monika (TEKMIRA Research Center for Minerals and Coal, Ministry of Energy and Mineral, Resources of the Republic of Indonesia, Jl. Jenderal Sudirman No. 623, Bandung 40211, Indonesia)
Arie Hardian (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences and Informatics, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani, PO Box 148, Jl. Terusan Jenderal Sudirman, Cimahi 40285, Indonesia)

Indonesian Journal of Chemistry
Vol 18, No 3 (2018)

A medium temperature pitch obtained from atmospheric fixed-bed gasifier was distilled at a various time (1, 2, 3 and 4 h) to induce polymerization and the results were compared with a commercial pitch. Aromaticity level of pitches was examined using infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis and simultaneous thermal analysis (TG-DSC). Longer heating time promoted lower moisture content, lower residue yield, higher insoluble fractions, as well as higher ash and carbon content. Although prolonged heat treatments lead to higher aromatization, there was no significant change in aromatization for heat treatment longer than 1 h. The index of aromaticity measured by using elemental analysis was ranged between 0.47 to 1.01, while the result from FTIR spectra showed stagnant value at 0.52. These values were slightly higher than that of pressurized Sasol-Lurgi gasification pitch (0.27).