The use of release analysis to show the selectivity of reagents towards differently sized feeds of the same coal

Abstract

Release analysis is used to characterize the cleaning ability of coal fines. It defines the limit of separation at any target level of ash. Since flotation depends upon many factors like feed size and its composition, surface properties, and type of reagents, it is important to characterize the optimum boundary of separation. Release analysis following the BS7503 procedure was used to characterize a − 0.5 mm composite feed and three sized feeds, i.e., −0.5 + 0.25, −0.25 + 0.1, and −0.1 mm using different reagent combinations. Coal response reflected by release curves and corresponding batch flotation results for various reagent combinations was found to be different for all three feeds. No single combination of collector and frother could deliver the maximum separation over the entire clean coal ash range for all three feeds. Significant yields ranging from 35% to 86% could be obtained at the 13% to 17% ash level for the medium volatile metallurgical coal investigated. Release curves and subsequent batch flotation results were found to be sensitive to feed size, feed size distribution, and reagent combination types with their corresponding dosage indicating that the clean coal ash requirement would dictate the application of reagents. The investigation results further show that release analysis results can be reproduced by batch flotation.