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Coal Processing Methods Overview

Coal processing methods involve several key steps: crushing raw coal, sizing it into different fractions, storing and stockpiling the coal between processing stages, separating the coal from mineral matter using density or froth flotation techniques, potentially drying the coal, and managing the refuse and tailings waste streams. Common unit operations include crushing, screening, heavy-media separation using magnetite, froth flotation to clean fine particles, thermal drying, and transporting waste to disposal areas.

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107 views3 pages

Coal Processing Methods Overview

Coal processing methods involve several key steps: crushing raw coal, sizing it into different fractions, storing and stockpiling the coal between processing stages, separating the coal from mineral matter using density or froth flotation techniques, potentially drying the coal, and managing the refuse and tailings waste streams. Common unit operations include crushing, screening, heavy-media separation using magnetite, froth flotation to clean fine particles, thermal drying, and transporting waste to disposal areas.

Uploaded by

Mael Mohammed
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© All Rights Reserved
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COAL PROCESSING METHODS

The unit processes in coal preparation plants vary, but the following
sequence (siquens) of steps is typical.

Crushing and breaking. Run-of-mine coal must be crushed

(kerasd) to an acceptable top size for treatment in the preparation


plant. Typical crushing and breaking devices are feeder (fider)
breakers, rotary breakers, hammer mills, and roll crushers.

Sizing. Different cleaning processes are used on different sizes

of coal. Therefore raw coal entering the plant will be screened;


sekwren (sieved; sevd) into three or four sizes. Clean coal is rarely
sized, except for some industrial markets.

Storage and stockpiling. Coal is stored in silos or stockpiled

before and after cleaning. Raw coal is stored between the mine and
the preparation plant, and clean coal is stored between the
preparation plant and product loadout. This is done to provide surge
(surg) capacity at the interface between the mine and the plant, and
between the plant and the loadout, to maintain workable product
inventories, and in some cases (keses) to control the quality of coal
going to a given customer by segregating different products.

Density separation. Raw coal consists of organic and mineral

matter components, with specific gravities ranging (ranjing) from


1.30 for the lighter organic material to 2.5 for rock. Coal is cleaned
by separating the lower-density organic material from the higherdensity refuse. In heavy-media separations, the specific gravity of
the medium used for separation, usually a suspension of finely
divided magnetite in water, is chosen to achieve (achiv) a given de
gree of separation depending on the characteristics of the coal, the
desired (disaired) product quality, and the acceptable level of coal
loss to the rejects. In water-only devices such as jigs, spirals, and
water-only cyclones, separation is effected by the differential
acceleration of coal and mineral particles in water.

Froth flotation. Fine coal particles (i.e., smaller than 0.5 mm)

are difficult to separate from mineral matter on a density basis and


this fraction usually is cleaned by froth flotation. Froth flotation is a
physiochemical (phy-sio-ke-mi-kel) process that exploits the
selectivity of the attachment of air bubbles to organic coal particle
surfaces (ser-fes) and in the nonattachment to mineral constituents.
Surfactants are used to create a hydrophobic surface on the coal
particles to be floated, and a collector, typically fuel oil, is used to
promote agglomeration of the floated particles to facilitate their
removal.

Coal drying. Coal preparation plants that employ fine coal

cleaning by froth flotation can produce an unacceptable amount of


moisture in the product. Thermal drying, in which the wet coal is
dried in the hot gas generated by a coal-or gas-fired burner (berner),
is used in some plants to reduce the moisture content.

Refuse and tailings management. Waste (weis) management is

an integral part of coal preparation. Coarse refuse is transported to


the solids disposal area, where it can form a tailings impoundment or
be placed in a suitable landfill. Tailings (fine solid waste in water)
are usually transported by pipeline to an impoundment area where
the tailings settle out; the clarified water is reused in the plant.

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