Size classification of Illinois Basin coals for desulfurization by froth flotation. Final report, July 1, 1984-June 30, 1985

Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1985

OSTI ID:5363038

Sinha, A K

Froth flotation systems are now commonly being employed in modern coal preparation plants for recovering coal fines, but are not utilized for desulfurizing coal due to a lack of system operating parameters for such applications. Previous laboratory and pilot-plant tests conducted on channel samples of high-sulfur coal have indicated that 80 to 85% of the coal with a sulfur content between 1.3 and 1.7% is recoverable by conscientious application of single stage froth flotation. Over 90% of the pyritic sulfur was consistently removed from the samples tested when the coal was ground to smaller than 100 mesh in size. This research project was conducted to determine the size grades into which the Illinois Basin high-sulfur coals should be classified for optimal generation of coarse-sized middling products to aid effective and economical desulfurization by froth flotation. Ten representative channel samples of high-sulfur coal were carefully drawn for this study from the same mines that were used for previous studies. Each sample was individually crushed to -2.5 in. in size and classified into various size grades. Desulfurization characteristics were determined for each size grade. Total sulfur was reduced to a value between 1.6 and 3.1%. The maximum reduction in total sulfur obtained in these samples ranged between 35 and 55%. Approximately 65 to 90% of the coal is recoverable with a total sulfur content of 2 to 3.5% in coarse sizes. While greater liberation of pyrite was found to occur in certain size grades, such as the 1'' x 1.5'' or 0.25'' x 14 mesh, in most of the samples tested, the liberation of pyrite increased with an increase in fineness of the coal sample. While appreciable reduction in total sulfur can be obtained by cleaning the coal in coarse sizes, about 80 or 90% of the coal may need to be ground to finer than 100 mesh for the ultimate desulfurization by froth flotation. 3 refs., 32 figs., 71 tabs.

• Research Organization: Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: FC22-83FE60339
• OSTI ID: 5363038
• Report Number(s): DOE/FE/60339-T29; ON: DE86001156
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010402* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Purification & Upgrading
013000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLEANING
COAL
COAL FINES
COLLOIDS
COMMINUTION
CRUSHING
DATA
DESULFURIZATION
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOTATION
FOAMS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INFORMATION
IRON COMPOUNDS
IRON SULFIDES
MATERIALS
MINERALS
NUMERICAL DATA
PARTICLE SIZE
PYRITE
REMOVAL
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SIZE
SULFIDE MINERALS
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR CONTENT
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
WASHING