Abstract:
In the process of CO
2 sequestration in deep coal seams, CO
2 usually exists in a supercritical state (ScCO
2) and undergoes complex physicochemical reactions with water and coal, resulting in changes of coal chemical composition and structure and thus affecting the CO
2 sequestration efficiency. To study the influence laws of ScCO
2 on coal chemical composition and structures under different water contents, ScCO
2-coal reaction experiments were conducted using coking coal samples. Then, the differences in coal composition and structure before and after the reaction were discussed. Finally, the influencing mechanism of water contents on the ScCO
2-coal reaction was revealed. The results show that: ScCO
2 dissolves carbonate minerals in coal more effectively than clay minerals, and the mass fraction of carbonate minerals in the residual coal increases and then decreases with the increase of water content; at higher water content, the reaction between ScCO
2 and carbonate minerals in coal is stronger than that of clay minerals, thus causing a more significant depletion of carbonate minerals. ScCO
2 and H
2O exert a significant influence on the oxygen-containing functional groups, but they give a weak impact on aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons; specifically, ScCO
2 reduces the content of oxygen-containing functional groups in coal. Furthermore, as the water content increases, the oxygen-rich index (
I2) increases significantly, while the hydrogen-rich index (
I1), aromaticity (
I3), and condensation degree (
I4) exhibit minimal variations. Under the swelling effect of ScCO
2, the aromatic layer spacing (
d002) shows an increase characteristic, while the ductility (
La), the number of aromatic layers (
Nc), aromatic carbon rate (
fa'), and aliphatic carbon rate (
fal) decrease. Furthermore, with increasing water content,
d002,
La, and
fa' firstly increase and then decrease, while
Lc,
Nc and
fal exhibit an opposite pattern. Therefore, water can enhance the ScCO
2 extraction efficiency of low molecular weight compounds from coal, promoting the disordering of aromatic structure in coal. However, as the water content further increases, it will impede the permeation of CO
2 into the coal matrix. The carbonate minerals in the coal react with ScCO
2 preferentially, thereby weakening the extraction effect of ScCO
2 on the organic matter in coal. Consequently, ScCO
2 has more apparent effect on the dissolution of organic matter and the destruction of chemical structure in coal on air-dried basis, and more significant dissolution of minerals in coal on saturated basis.