Engineering development of advanced physical fine coal cleaning for premium fuel applications. Quarterly technical progress report 15, April--June 1996

Goal is engineering development of two advanced physical fine coal cleaning processes, column flotation and selective agglomeration, for premium fuel applications. Scope includes laboratory research and bench-scale testing on 6 coals to optimize these processes, followed by design/construction/operation of a 2-t/hr PDU. During this quarter, parametric testing of the 30-in. Microcel{trademark} flotation column at the Lady Dunn plant was completed and clean coal samples submitted for briquetting. A study of a novel hydrophobic dewatering process continued at Virginia Tech. Benefits of slurry PSD (particle size distribution) modification and pH adjustment were evaluated for the Taggart and Hiawatha coals; they were found to be small. Agglomeration bench-scale test results were positive, meeting product ash specifications. PDU Flotation Module operations continued; work was performed with Taggart coal to determine scaleup similitude between the 12-in. and 6-ft Microcel{trademark} columns. Construction of the PDU selective agglomeration module continued