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Title: PDU-scale testing of microbubble flotation

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5692253

Fundamental investigations into the effect of bubble size on coal flotation have established that microbubbles can improve the recovery of fine coal and increase the rejection of ash. Laboratory-scale testing of microbubble flotation has demonstrated the capability of producing superclean coal containing less than 1 or 2% ash and very little pyritic sulfur. The main objective of this project is to construct a 500 lb/hr Process Demonstration Unit (PDU) for the purpose of: (1) demonstrating the feasibility of the microbubble flotation process for producing superclean coal; (2) collecting scale-up data for designing commercial-scale microbubble flotation columns; and (3) collecting cost data for an economic evaluation of the process. Work presented in our previous progress report centered on the design and construction of bench-scale flotation columns for scale-up testing (WBS 1.1.1). In addition, we presented the initial test results on the optimization of column operating parameters (WBS 1.1.2), a detailed analysis of microbubble generation (WBS 1.1.5) and design plans for the PDU facility (WBS 1.2.1 and 1.2.2). With the bench-scale column design now complete, this report deals primarily with the tasks relating to column scale-up. 3 refs., 14 figs., 2 tabs.

Research Organization:
Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA (USA). Dept. of Mining and Minerals Engineering
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC22-86PC91274
OSTI ID:
5692253
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/91274-T14; ON: DE91012261
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English