An Analysis of Mass Balance and Fractional Particle Size Distributions of Coal and Magnetite in a Dense-Medium Cyclone Circuit

Abstract

In this study, a complete mass balance of magnetite and coal in the various parts of a dense-medium cyclone (DMC) circuit was determined and fractional size distributions of magnetite and coal were analyzed for the circuit. The DMC overflow product contained 71.34% of the feed coal, whereas 88.35% of the feed magnetite reported to the DMC underflow. The majority of the magnetite (about 86%) was removed by the sieve bends in both the DMC underflow and overflow streams. Sixty-one percent of the raw coal within a size range of 0.50–20.00 mm was recovered as clean coal with an average ash content of 15.30%. About 77% of the feed magnetite having a size range of 75–600 µm was obtained from the underflow of the drain-and-rinse screen belonging to DMC underflow.