Investigation of the effect of agglomeration time, pH and various salts on the cleaning of Zonguldak bituminous coal by oil agglomeration

In this study, the effects of bridging liquid concentration, agglomeration time, pH and various salts on the combustible recovery and ash contents of the agglomerated products have been investigated. Kerosene was used as bridging liquid. The optimum values of kerosene concentration, pH and agglomeration time have been determined as 20 wt%, 7.5 and 15 min, respectively. Metallic salts, such as FeSO4, NaCl, FeCl3, Al-2(SO4)(3) were used in the experiments in which the effects of salts were investigated. While the combustible recovery slightly increased depending on the increase in the concentration of NaCl, very small decreases have been recorded in the recoveries depending on the increase in the concentration of the FeCl3. A considerable reduction occurs in the agglomeration recovery with the increasing concentration of FeSO4, while the combustible recovery slightly decreases at low concentration of Al-2(SO4)(3). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.