Effects of Process Variables on Size Distribution of Oil-Agglomerates of Fine Coal

Experiments were carried out on a slurry from the Patherdih Coal Washery in a bench scale agglomeration cell to study the various process variables affecting the size distribution of oil agglomerates of fine coal. The agglomerates recovered at the end of each experiments were air-dried and screened over a set of screens above 500/µm to estimate the size distribution. The size distributions of the agglomerates have been represented by characteristic curves. It was found that stirrer speed, feed size, dosage of agglomerating oil, agglomeration period and temperature of the pulp have significant effects on the characteristic curves. The present results show, for the first time, that the self-preserving growth is followed by the agglomerates produced even by the prototype bench scale agglomeration cell. Equations to quantify the characteristic curves have been Suggested.