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U.S. Department of Energy
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Carbon dioxide for fine coal flotation: Progress report, third quarter, second year

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5837962
The hydrophilicity index from FTIR spectroscopy has been successfully used to describe the surface state of coal and hence its flotation behavior. The FTIR hydrophilicity index has been used to monitor the surface state of the coal as influenced by CO/sub 2/-pressure treatment. A controlled environment chamber was used to monitor the hydrophobicity change of fine coal during the CO/sub 2/-pressure treatment. A high-volatile bituminous (HVB) coal was selected for this purpose since the HVB coal is most amenable to the carbon dioxide coal flotation technology. Hydrophobicity for the fine coal characterized by in-situ FTIR spectroscopy increased significantly after a 50-minute treatment of dry powdered coal at a CO/sub 2/ pressure of 20 psi, and a plateau value is reached after that time. These results, demonstrate the general utility of diffuse reflectance FTIR for the characterization of hydrophobicity and the particular utility of diffuse reflectance FTIR with respect to the analysis of carbon dioxide flotation of fine coal. 3 figs.
Research Organization:
Utah Univ., Salt Lake City (USA). Dept. of Metallurgy and Metallurgical Engineering
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-85PC80530
OSTI ID:
5837962
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/80530-T5; ON: DE88002648
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English