Selective flotation of fossil resin from western coal

Abstract

The test program has demonstrated that: (1) technically, the new flotation technologies discovered at the University of Utah and then improved upon by Advanced Processing Technologies, Inc. provide a highly efficient means to selectively recover fossil resin from coal. The proof-of-concept continuous flotation circuit resulted in fossil resin recovery with the same separation efficiency as was obtained from laboratory bench-scale testing (more than 80% recovery at about 80% concentrate grade); and (2) economically, the selective flotation process has been shown to be sufficiently profitable to justify the development of a fossil resin industry based on this new flotation process. The proof-of-concept testing has resulted in significant interest from several coal mining companies and has sparked the desire of local and state government to establish a fossil resin industry in the Wasatch Plateau coal field. In this view, the results from the current proof-of-concept testing program have been successful. This special report provides theoretical and analytical data on some surface chemistry work pertinent to fossil resin characterization, and other efforts carried out during the past months.