An Australian brown coal (Yallourn; YL) was oxidized at 70℃ for 12h under atmospheric pressure in alcohol containing aqueous hydrogen peroxide, which was added as the radical initiator. The mild oxidization proposed in this study greatly increased the solubility of the coal in methanol. This was accomplished by the cleavage of covalent bonds by H_2O_2 and the alkylation with alcohol. Degradation and alkylation were then evaluated by pyrolyzability. The H_2O_2 oxidation without the presence of alcohols decreased the char yield by 17-18kg per 100kg of raw coal. The presence of 1-PrOH or 3-BuOH further decreased the char yield and greatly increased the BTX yield The degradation of coal was thus promoted by alcohol, which worked as the stabilizer of coal fragment radicals in the primary pyrolysis stage.
