Modification of Coal Tar Pitch to Reduce the Carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Abstract

This research investigated on reducing carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs),especially benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in coal tar pitch by modifying with the two selected modifiers: Paraformaldehyde and Epoxy Resin. The reaction emphasis on the change of temperature, reaction time and the quantity of the modifiers. The results indicated that Paraformaldehyde and Epoxy Resin could decrease the PAHs content greatly. The BaP decreasing rate reached 75.86% and 53.45% respectively. And the BaP equivalency content of the pitch decreased from 2.94% to 1.41% and 1.47% respectively. The properties of the modified coal tar pitch, including soft point (SP), toluene insolubles (TI), quinoline insolubles (QI) have changed a lot.