A comparison study of column flotation technologies for cleaning Illinois coal. Final technical report, September 1, 1993--November 30, 1994
Six commercially-available column technologies were compared on the basis of their separation performance, throughput capacity and operational characteristics for treating Illinois Basin coal fines. The flotation column technologies included in this study were the Jameson Cell, Flotaire, Turboair, Packed-Column, Microcel and the Canadian Column. The coal samples treated in this study were a {minus}100 mesh flotation feed slurry, a {minus}40 mesh coal, and a refuse pond coal sample. This investigation found that the Packed Column, Jameson Cell, and Microcel are the best flotation columns for cleaning the Illinois Basin coals treated in this study. The Packed-Column was found to provide superior selectivity, although requiring the highest amount of air and frother concentration. The superior performance is believed to be related to the extensive reflux action and selective detachment mechanism that are more prevalent in the Packed-Column due to its unique ability to support a full froth column. Among the conventional open columns, the Microcel provided the best selectivity, most likely due to its lower aeration requirement which results in a more plug-flow environment within the cell. Both the Packed-Column and the Microcel appeared to have nearly equal throughput capacities. The Jameson Cell, which also has a relatively high throughput capacity, was found to require the least amount of frother while supplying a self-inducing air system. Another important finding of this investigation is that the traditional release analysis procedure is inadequate for predicting the optimum performance of advanced froth flotation processes and, thus, requires further investigation.
- Research Organization:
- Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL (United States). Dept. of Mining Engineering
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC22-92PC92521
- OSTI ID:
- 57633
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/PC/92521-T220; ON: DE95012420
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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