Materials, Methods & Technologies, Volume 12, 2018

Abstract: It is possible to evaluate the excessive amount of fine-size coal, which is produced by increasing of mechanised excavation in the coal mining, by oil agglomeration method. In this study, the possible beneficiation of Alpagut-Dodurga (Corum) coal with oil agglomeration under different conditions was investigated. Oil type and amount, pH, agglomeration time and stirring speed were selected as operating parameters of oil agglomeration method. Sixteen agglomeration tests were carried out under different conditions with the Taguchi (L16) experimental design and the test results were evaluated by the combustible recovery (CR) depending on their ash contents. The signal/noise (S/N) ratios of each test were calculated and optimization test was performed under the conditions recommended by the Minitab 16.0. From the test results, the highest CR and S/N ratio were obtained from Test 8 and compared to the verification test. The S/N ratio and average CR were obtained as to be 28.98 and 59.24%, respectively. In addition, the contributions of each factor to oil agglomeration of coal were determined with variance analysis (ANOVA).