Thermal degradation of primary coal tar distillate in the presence of iron nanopowder

Impact of the nanosized iron powder on the process of thermal degradation of coal tar distillate was determined by the thermogravimetric analysis. Coal tar distillate was obtained by simple distillation up to 350°C of primary coal tar from the Shubarkol deposit. Iron powder was obtained by electrochemical reduction of iron from sulfate electrolytes at simultaneous impact of high-voltage electric discharge on cathodic zone. Scanning electron microscopy showed that iron powder consists of nanosized particles (30-124 nm) forming aggregates. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of α-Fe and FeO(OH) phases. The average crystallite size determination was made using Scherrer equation and amounted to 31.7 nm. Obtained iron powder was added to the coal tar distillate in amount of 1% of distillate weight and this mixture was subjected to thermal degradation at heating rate 5°C/min in an inert atmosphere. Processing of the data obtained was carried out using the model-fitting Coats-Redfern method. The values of activation energy were calculated from the linear approximation constructed as a result of processing thermoanalytical data. It was found that the addition of iron powder in amount of 1% to the coal tar distillate reduces the activation energy from 153.98 kJ/mol to 84.48 kJ/mol.