Roles of Ion-Exchangeable Sodium in the Conversion Process of Tar to Soot during Rapid Pyrolysis of Two Brown Coals in a Drop-Tube Reactor

[Image: see text] In this work, two series of brown coals (including acid-washed coal and ion-exchangeable Na-loaded coal) were pyrolyzed in a drop-tube reactor. The experimental results revealed that soot and tar yields of Na-loaded coals were significantly lower than that of acid-washed coals. Gasified Na can reduce the formation of big soot agglomerates. During coal primary pyrolysis, ion-exchangeable Na can reduce the amount and aromaticity of primary tar. Na released with volatiles can catalyze the cracking of aliphatic and aromatic compounds, inhibit the polymerization between aromatic rings, and promote the combination of soot/tar with oxygen-containing substances, resulting in the decrease of graphite crystallite size and the increase of amorphous carbon content. Na can also reduce the organization degree of soot by forming intercalation compounds.