An Evaluation of a Two-Stage Spiral Processing Ultrafine Bituminous Coal

Abstract

Testing was conducted to evaluate the performance of a multistage Multotec SX7 spiral concentrator treating ultrafine bituminous coal. This spiral mimics a two-stage separation in that the refuse is removed after four turns, and the clean coal and middlings are repulped (without water addition) and then separated in the final three turns. Feed samples were collected from the spiral circuit of a coal cleaning plant located in southwestern Pennsylvania. The samples consisted of undeslimed cyclone feed (nominal − 0.15 mm) and deslimed spiral feed (nominal 0.15 × 0.053 mm). Testing was carried out to investigate the effects of slurry flow rate and solids concentration on spiral performance. Detailed size and ash analyses were performed on the spiral feed and product samples. For selected tests, float-sink and sulfur analyses were performed. In nearly all cases, ash reduction occurred down to approximately 0.025 mm, with some sulfur reduction occurring even in the − 0.025 mm interval. The separation of the + 0.025 mm material was not significantly affected by the presence of the − 0.025 mm material when treating the undeslimed feed. The − 0.025 mm material split in approximately the same ratio as the slurry, and the majority of the water traveled to the clean coal stream. This split ultimately increased the overall clean coal ash value. A statistical analysis determined that both flow rate and solids concentration affected the clean coal ash value and yield, though the flow rate had a greater effect on the separation.