The Pennsylvania State University, its project team (Typlex, Inc., DAGER, Inc., and PrepTech, Inc.), and advisory committee members have demonstrated the application of ultrasonic energy during dense-medium cyclining and subsequent recovery of fine coal and coal refuse impoundment materials. The results will help to extend the range of conventional dense-medium cyclining to sizes now typically cleaned in relatively inefficient water-only cyclone and spiral concentrators circuits. This technology also provides a potential approach to produce ultra-clean material as would be used for feedstocks for premium carbon products. This report describes Phase I of the project, which involved laboratory testing of dense-medium cyclining and subsequent medium recovery, with and without ultrasonic treatment, along with fundamental dispersion testing. Dense-medium cycloning was conducted with a 76.2-mm (3-in.) diameter cyclone under various conditions including magnetite grade, medium relative density, inlet pressure, cyclone geometry, and feed coal. Dense-medium recovery testing was carried out with a 305-mm (12-in.) diameter x 152-mm (6-in.) wide wet-drum magnetic separator using the cyclone clean coal and refuse products as the feed material. Fundamental testing of dispersion/reagglomeration phenomena was conducted with coal/clay mixtures. In almost all cases, the dense-medium cyclone was capable of achieving separations down to approximately 0.037 mm. Ultrasonic treatment had a slight effect on reducing the ash content of the clean coal. It was also found that ultrasonic treatment improved the purity of the magnetic fraction during wet-drum magnetic separation. The treatment was particularly beneficial for the cyclone overflow material. The fundamental testing indicated that agitation after ultrasonic treatment is necessary to disperse fine particles and to prevent agglomeration.
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