FLOTATION OF LONG FLAME COAL PRETREATED BY POLYOXYETHYLENE SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE

Abstract

In this investigation, polyoxyethylene sorbitan monostearate (Tween 60) was used to improve flotation of fine long flame coal. The flotation recovery of long flame coal could be increased when long flame coal was either pretreated or conditioned with Tween 60 in a flotation cell for a period before the addition of collector. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) technique was used to indicate surface properties of long flame coal. The results of FTIR show that there are many oxygen functional groups on the sur- face. Contact angle measurements were used to indicate changes in hydrophobicity of coal surface before and after Tween 60 and/or diesel pretreatments. The results of contact angle measurements show that hydrophobicity of coal can be increased by Tween 60. Tween 60 can also enhance adsorption of diesel on the coal surface, and hence floatability of long flame coal can be further improved. Tween 60 primarily enhances the flotation recovery of low density coal fractions (<1.5 and 1.5-1.8 kg/dm 3 ). However, the increase in flotatation recovery is less significant with an excessive addition of Tween 60.