Regulation mechanism of phenol on intermediates during supercritical water gasification of coal

Supercritical water (SCW) gasification technology can enable the efficient utilization of coal by converting it to hydrogen-rich gas. However, poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy components, which are intermediates of supercritical water gasification, tend to generate char, hindering the complete gasification of coal. In this work, phenol is recycled to enhance the gasification process and reduce the formation of these intermediates during SCWG, and the regulation mechanism is investigated. The results demonstrate that both gas yield and gasification efficiency increase with the presence of phenol, reaching approximately 98.5% at 750 °C, concentration of 2%with the effect of phenol, which is 27% higher than that in the coal-water system. Organics removal rate reaches about 98% with the addition of phenol. Phenol can enhance the gasification performance by facilitating the conversion of heavy components to lightweight components. The transient reactivity of coal in the poly-condensation stage is increased by about 50 times with the presence of phenol. The regulation mechanism of phenol in the poly-condensation stage during coal gasification involves the decomposition of SCW forming hydroxyl radicals, which replaces the substituents on the benzene ring, facilitating the dissociation of benzene ring into small molecules that are prone to polymerize. The interacting force between phenol and multi-rings disrupts the conjugate structure, aiding in the decomposition of polycyclic organics into small molecules.