Coal Flotation and Fine Coal Utilisation

When: Saturday 4 – Sunday 5 September 2010
Where: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

Presenter: Dr Janusz S Laskowski, Laskowski Research Inc, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia.

With the renewed interest in fossil fuels and the need for clean technologies research and development is continuously required, a task impossible without understanding of coal beneficiation and utilisation principles. We have been continuously overwhelmed by computerisation and availability of better equipment, but flotation is still a surface chemistry based process in which what is frequently needed is the use of better reagents, better use of the existing reagents or optimisation of the conditions under which the process is carried out. While fines of thermal coals were in the past often discarded as tailings, the impact on the environment and the economic value of this product must today be considered. Flotation of such less hydrophobic coals, and the material stored in old tailing ponds, is only possible when the surface properties of such coals are fully understood.

The course will be delivered by Dr Janusz Laskowski, a well-known world expert who for 20 years was an editor-in-chief of the Coal Preparation international journal, authored a monograph on “Coal Flotation and Fine Coal Utilisation”, Elsevier 2001, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th International Mineral Processing Congress in Beijing in 2008.

Workshop outline:

Introduction
Unit operations in coal preparation
Metallurgical coal vs. steam coal processing circuits
Flotation in coal prep plant flowsheets

Coal characteristics related to coal preparation
Coal proximate analysis
Coal classification
Coal petrography
Separation of macerals
Coal mineral matter
Sulfur in coal
Liberation

Testing
Testing coal oxidation
Hardgrove grindability index
Float-sink tests, washability curves
Floatability (release analysis, the tree procedure)
The use of floatability curves
Washability vs. floatability
Wettability – contact angle measurements

Coal surface properties
Role of coal surface properties in fine-coal processing
Coal surface wettability
Effect of coal rank and oxidation on coal floatability
Floatability of coal macerals
Effect of rank and petrographic composition on grindability

Reagents in coal flotation
Classification of coal flotation reagents
Water-insoluble collectors & water-soluble frothers
Vegetable oil collectors
Flotation promoters
Coal and pyrite depressants
Reagents’ mode of action
Effect of chemical additives on grinding

Flotation technology
Fine coal processing circuits
Reagents emulsification and its effect on flotation
Stage addition of reagents
Coal flotation variables
         - Effect of particle size
         - Effect of pH
         - Effect of clay slimes
         - Flotation of low rank and oxidized coals
Strategies for washing fine coal
Flocculation in fine coal processing circuits

Flotation machines
Flotation kinetics
Coal vs. mineral flotation
Classification of flotation machines
Flotation columns vs. mechanical cells in coal flotation

Particle Size Enlargement
Coagulation and flocculation
Oil agglomeration
Pelletization
Briquetting

Fine Coal Utilization
Thermal and metallurgical coals
Fine coal handleability
Superabsorbents
Spontaneous combustion
Coal-water slurries (CWS)
Chemical additives in preparation of CWS
CWS from low-rank coals
Coal processing: conventional vs. seam-to-steam strategy

Deposits of oil sands and oil shales
Athabasca oil sands
Water-based extraction processes

 

Instructor:

Dr Janusz S Laskowski, Laskowski Research Inc, Professor Emeritus,
N.B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Cost:

Approximately AU$1,400.

Inclusions:

To be advised

Bookings:

Via the registration brochure.

Fee: A$1,540 (See the registration form for cancellation policy).
Includes: A comprehensive set of course notes, lunch and refreshments
Numbers: Minimum 10, maximum 40: Please note workshop may be cancelled if the minimum number is not achieved.

Further information contact: Dr Janusz Laskowski | Email: jsl@apsc.ubc.ca