Development of a gas-promoted oil agglomeration process. Quarterly report, October 1, 1996--December 31, 1996

Further agglomeration tests were conducted in a series of tests designed to determine the effects of various parameters on the size and structure of the agglomerates formed, the rate of agglomeration, coal recovery, and ash rejection. For this series of tests, finely ground Pittsburgh No. 8 coal has been agglomerated with i-octane in a closed mixing system with a controlled amount of air present to promote particle agglomeration. The present results provide further evidence of the role played by air. As the concentration of air in the system was increased from 4.5 to 18 v/w% based on the weight of coal, coal recovery and ash rejection both increased. The results also show that coal recovery and ash rejection were improved by increasing agitator speed. On the other hand, coal recovery was not affected by a change in solids concentration from 20 to 30 w/w%