Nitrogen from coal, precipitation

See also Acid precipitation Acidic gases, collection from coal-fired power plants, 84-91 Acridine, nitrogen contents, 305 Acridine char... 

Emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulates from coal combustion are problems of increasing concern and regulation. Coal combustion contributes about 25 percent of the particulate matter, 25 percent of the sulfur oxides, and 5 percent of the nitrogen oxides emitted to the atmosphere. Much of the particulates are derived from the mineral content of the coal, but some particulates also result from sulfur and nitrogen oxides that react to form various sulfate and nitrate salts. A major concern about particulate matter is that the smallest particles are respirable and may pose a health hazard. Particulate matter is recovered in most power plants by the use of electrostatic precipitators, which have been developed to very high efficiencies (>99%). Other methods of particulate removal include baghouses and cyclone collectors. 

Acid rain is actually a catchall phrase for any kind of acidic precipitation, including snow, sleet, mist, and fog. Acid rain begins when water comes into contact with sulfur and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere. These oxides can come from natural sources such as volcanic emissions or decaying plants. But there are man-made sources as well, such as power plant and automobile emissions. In the United States, two-thirds of all the sulfur dioxide and one-fourth of the nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere are produced by coal-burning power plants. 

In the chelates of glycine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid all the carbon and nitrogen atoms form part of the ring structure. This probably is the reason why these three acids appear to outlast all others in high rank coal. It should be pointed out that in the presence of hydrogen sulfide, copper is precipitated as the sulfide from copper-amino acid chelates. Thus, copper and perhaps other elements could be transported as amino acid chelates until sufficient hydrogen sulfide was encountered to cause precipitation. 

That the combination of dilution with hexane and HC1 treating is more effective than dilution with hexane alone for precipitating nitrogen compounds in the product of hydroliquefaction is seen in Experiment 3, from the nitrogen analyses and yields of Schemes B and C extracts in Table VIII. In this experiment under conditions of relatively short contact time, the yield of extract in Scheme B products is close to that of the coal charged, indicating that essentially all of the liquefied coal is asphal-... 

Vacuum-still bottoms from the H-coal liquefaction process were separated into acid, neutral, and basic fractions by precipitation with acids or by extraction with bases. About one-third of the preasphaltene and one-sixth of the asphaltene fraction were precipitated by acids equivalent weights of the bases were in the range 1200-1800 for preasphaltenes and 600-800 for asphaltenes. The acidic components were obtained either by extraction with aqueous sodium hydroxide or by extraction with benzyltrimethylammonium hydroxide in methanol. About one-fifth of the asphaltene and one-fourth of the presasphaltene fractions were obtained as acids, and up to 10% as amphoteric substances. Nitrogen and sulfur were present in all fractions found. Deno axidation (CF3C02H, H202, H 04) gave dicarboxylic acids from malonic to adipic in addition to mono acids. 

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