A CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR THE BENEFICIATION OF COAL BY SELECTIVE AGGLOMERATION

THE PROJECT'S GOAL IS TO QUANTITATIVELY DEFINE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF EACH OF THE KEY VARIABLES AND FLOW RATE TO THE CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION OF A HIGHLY BENEFICIATED PRODUCT COAL BY SELECTIVE AGGLOMERATION. COAL BENEFICIATION BY SELECTIVE AGGLOMERATION OF MOST RAW COALS HAS DEMONSTRATED THE REMOVAL OF OVER 95% OF THE MINERAL MATTER, INCLUDING PYRITIC SULFUR, WHILE RECOVERING VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE COAL FED TO THE PROCESS. THE EVENTUAL APPLICATION OF THIS PROCESS--TO REFINE COAL FOR USE IN ELECTRICAL POWER PRODUCTION AND, IN THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR, FOR STEAM GENERATION--WILL CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE REDUCTION OF BOTH "ACID RAIN" AND MAINTENANCE COSTS. MOST OF THE KEY VARIABLES THAT CONTROL THE SEPARATION UNIT PROCESS HAVE BEENDEFINED AND REPORTED IN TERMS OF BATCH BENCH SCALE PROCEDURES. THOSE VARIABLES INCLUDE AGGLOMERATION KINETICS,THE COAL/WATER/AGGLOMERATION RATIO, AND THE HIGH SHEAR MIXING. HOWEVER, PROCESS ECONOMICS REQUIRES RELIABLE CONTINUOUS PROCESSING THAT TO THIS POINT HAS NOT BEEN PROVIDED WITH A DETAILED INVESTIGATION. THIS INVESTIGATION WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN PHASE I. THE GOAL WILL BE ACHIEVED USING A 20 G/MIN CONTINUOUS SELECTIVE AGGLOMERATION APPARATUS IN WHICH EACH OF THE VARIABLES CAN BE CONTROLLED PRECISELY, AND THE PRODUCT COAL AGGLOMERATES AND MINERAL MATTER CAN BE RECOVERED FOR ANALYSIS. AN ANALYSIS OF THE PRODUCTS UNDER CAREFULLY CONTROLLED CONDITIONS WILL PERMIT ADETAILED DEFINITION OF THE PROCESS IN ENGINEERING TERMS AND VARIABLES. THIS WILL AID IN DETERMINING OPTIMUM DESIGN COSTESTIMATES AND SCALE-UPS.