Abstract
Tabas high sulfur coal was desulfurized by leaching with sodium hydroxide solution in a batch reactor which was designed and built for this purpose. The effect of caustic concentration, coal particles, reaction temperature and reaction time on the removal of ash and sulfur was investigated. Depending on the desulfurization conditions, the rate of reduction for total, pyritic and organic sulfur was varied. Desulfurization rate has been enhanced by increasing temperature, sodium hydroxide concentration and reaction time. Also, plastometry properties, coal recovery percentage and ash removal, measured in this work, were found to be function of the above operating parameters. Finally, the rate of desulfurization reaction was found to be well represented by a continuous model that was second order with respect to pyritic sulfur.
