Effect of Flotation on Preparation of Coal-Water Slurries

In order to study the effect of flotation reagents on the properties of coal-water slurry, a sub-bituminous coal was cleaned via either forward flotation or reverse flotation. The froth product from the forward flotation, obtained with the use of diesel oil and MIBC, and the tailings of the reverse flotation, carried out with dextrin-tannic acid depressants and dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride collector, were used in the preparation of coal-water slurries. It was shown that while it was possible to obtain the coal-water slurry with a high-solids content from the coal rendered hydrophilic (tailings from the coal reverse flotation), in the case of the hydrophobic product (froth product from the forward flotation) a dispersing agent was required to obtain the coal-water slurry of the same high-solids content.