Pilot plant for oil-water emulsion cleaning of pulverized coal. Final report, February 1, 1980-January 31, 1981
The process of cleaning fine coal by spherical agglomeration, for which many patents have been granted, has not yet been applied on a commercial scale, despite encouraging experimental evidence of its capabilities. Other factors such as the economic feasibility and environmental compatibility of the process must be taken into consideration before it can be shown to be competitive. The purpose of this study was to apply emulsion technology (frequently referred to as spherical or oil agglomeration) to some New Mexico steam coals. The following conclusions were reached: (1) The oil agglomeration process is technically able to clean different New Mexico coals of very fine particle sizes. Combustible recoveries of around 90% and moisture contents well under 20% can be obtained under the proper conditions. Even coal containing extremely high amounts of ash material (+50%) can be successfully cleaned with appreciable improvements in calorific value. (2) Oil addition is the most important variable. Increasing oil addition increases recovery and agglomerate diameter and reduces ash content, retained moisture and inversion time. Approximately 20% total oil addition seems to strike a balance between low ash content, low moisture content, and high combustible recovery on the one hand and oil consumption on the other. (3) Analyses indicate that the process tends to concentrate sodium and organic sulfur in the clean product. (4) The addition of surface-active agents does not reduce oil consumption or moisture content. (5) Pilot-plant results tended to be an improvement on bench-scale tests. (6) A multistage process seems to be more effective than a single-stage process in realizing the full potential of oil agglomeration for cleaning coal. (7) The clean pellets produced are large enough for easy handling with minimal dusting and will air-dry to a moisture content essentially the same as the raw coal.
- OSTI ID:
- 6630894
- Report Number(s):
- NP-25270
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
COAL FINES
AGGLOMERATION
CLEANING
COAL PREPARATION
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
PILOT PLANTS
EMULSIONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FUEL OILS
KEROSENE
RECOVERY
WATER
COLLOIDS
COMMINUTION
DATA
DISPERSIONS
FUELS
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
LIQUID FUELS
NUMERICAL DATA
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
013000* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Transport
Handling
& Storage