The effects of dissolved CO2 on coal structure and properties

Carbon dioxide dissolves in coals and swells them slightly. The dissolved CO2 seems to act as a plasticizer, enabling physical structure rearrangements and lowering the coal's softening temperature. Plasticized coals are known to rearrange to a more associated form in which fluids, including CO2, will be less soluble. A comparison of the sorption of CO2 and ethane, molecules of similar size, shows much greater CO2 uptake probably because of much...