WASHING OF COAL

Coal contains two types of

impurities.

1. Fixed or inherent impurity

2. Free impurity
Fixed or inherent impurities
1. Mineral matter in coal is ˂ 3%.
2. It is derived from coal forming plant
and can’t be removed by coal washing.
3. Oil agglomeration in which leaching of
coal impurities by petroleum oil can
remove some impurities.
Free impurities
1. These are adhering to the surface of
the coal.
2. Mainly consist of dirt band and rock
particles.
3. Free impurities can be removed by
coal washing technique only.
Objectives of Coal Washing
1. Reduces its ash content.
2. Reduces its S & P contents
3. Increases its heating value
4. Improves its coking property
5. Increases its fusion point of ash
6. Reduces its clinkering tendency
7. Increases its efficiency
Principle of Coal Washing
Suppose
S.G of pure coal = 1.2 – 1.7
S.G of free impurities = 1.7 – 4.9
1. If it is suspended in a liquid of S.G 1.5, then
the impurities being heavier will sink in it,
where as pure coal will float.
2. Due to specific gravity difference, pure coal
and free impurities are separated.
Advantages of Clean Coal
1. Higher efficiency of utilization
2. Economic in transportation and storage
3. Less clinker trouble in furnaces and gasifiers
4. Less of ash disposal problems
5. Lesser content of S, P, Cl2 and other harmful
elements
6. Improved coking properties
Types of Coal Washing processes
It is of three types.

1. Gravity Separation method

2. Float and sink method
3. Froth Floatation method
Gravity Separation method
1.Wet processes
1.1 Launder washer
1.2 Jigs
1.3 Rising Current classifier
1.4 Wilfley tables

2. Dry processes
2.1 Jigs
2.2 Tables
Float and sink method
1.Fine solids and water floatation

1.1 sand

1.2 Magnetite and other materials

 Dry washing processes
Pneumatic Table
1. It is a perforated and riffled sloping deck
with a reciprocating motion.
2. Coal is fed from the upper corner which is
transversely inclined.
3. Air is blown through the deck.
4. Coal refuse under air flow, reciprocating
motion and frictional resistance of the table.
5. Heavy refuse is trapped in the reffles &
collected at the end of the table whereas
clean coal is collected at the lower corner of
the table.
Air sand process
1. A suspension of sand in air of a
particular suitable specific gravity is
used as a medium.
2. Here clean coal floats.
3. The dirt sink.
Berrisford process
1. It is based upon the difference in
resistance of clean and dirt coal.
2. The feed coal is dropped onto an inclined
plane containing a gap chosen width.
3. The clean coal bounces and falls on a
receiver while the dirt falls through the
gap.
Dry processes Advantages and
Disadvantages
Advantages
1. Eliminates the cost of dry coals.
2. No problem of disposal of slurry of
water and fine dust.
Disadvantages
3. Feed should be very closely sized,
separation efficiency will be very poor.
4. Result is not satisfied.
Wet washing process
Dense or heavy medium separation
The various dense medium processes are the
large scale application of float and sink
test.
Different processes are
1. Chance process employing deep bath
2. Tromp process employing shallow bath
Chance process
1. Washing medium is a mixture of sand
and water in such a proportion to have an
intermediate specific gravity between
clean coal and dirt/ash.
2. A deep bath of sand and water mixture is
maintained in a trough where the clean
coal floats and the dirt sink and removed
separately.
Tromp process
1. A shallow bath of mild steel is provided with
a push plate conveyor to discharge the clean
coal.
2. A scraper conveyor to remove separately the
middling's and the refuse.
3. A low S.G & high S.G washing medium is
fed separately.
4. Both the media flow horizontally over the
whole width and depth of the washer.
Advantages of shallow bath process over
deep bath

1. Reduction in the building height.

2. Requirement of much lesser volume of
fluid.
3. Increases the capacity for extracting
middling's.
Advantages of dense medium process
1. Efficiency is about 99%.
2. Its efficiency separates at low S.G of
1.28 and at any high practical gravity
level.
3. Minimum and maximum capacity is
similar to jigs.
4. Most widely used process in washing of
coal.
Disadvantages of dense medium process
1. It is inefficient in cleaning small size
coal as the viscosity of media effects
these sizes and reduces the capacity of
the plant.
2. Quality of solid media removed with
clean products is much greater.
Jig washer
1. A coal bed is maintained on a perforated
plate and subjected to the periodic
upward and downward current of water
to separate the coal bed in different
layers.
2. The clean coal is collected in the upper
tray and the dirt accumulates in the
lower tray.
3. Pulsating movement of water is created
either by reciprocating plunger or
diaphragm.
Baum Jig
1. It is a u-shaped box divided longitudinally by vertical
partition into washing and air compartments.
2. Washing section is divided into two parts each having a
sieve.
3. Water pulsation is created in air compartments.
4. The coal is fed at the one end of the washing
compartment.
5. The larger pieces are collected at the bottom of the
first section.
6. The clean coal and the finer dirt is carried forward
over second section.
7. The refuse sinks and the clean coal is carried by
the following water over the discharge weir.
8. Fine dirt falls through the sieve into the bottom of
the washer and are removed by the conveyor.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Jigs
Advantages
1. It gives better separation efficiency for finer sizes(25-
200mm) of coals.
2. High efficiency (98%) for coals with 10% near
gravity materials.
3. High optimum capacity (200-400) tons/hr.
4. Maximum capacity = 600 tons/hr
Disadvantage
5. It can’t wash fines below 0.5mm.
Cyclone washer
1. Here gravitational settling is replaced
by centrifugal force.
2. A pulp of raw coal and heavy
magnetite is fed tangentially to the
cyclone.
3. The overflows from the cyclone
contains the cleans and the
underflows contains the dirt.
4. The recovered slurry of heavy
medium is reused after suitable
treatment.
Advantages and disadvantages of cyclone
separator
Advantages
1. Very efficient for small sized coal.
2. Highly flexible in operation with regard to % of near
gravity material, coal size, feed rate and separation
gravity.
Disadvantages
3. Power consumption is more.
4. Maintenance cost is high.
Trough washer / Launders
1. The coal feed and the water enters at the
top of the inclined trough where the
heavier dirt settles at the lower layer and
the lighter clean coal remains in the upper
layer and overflows at the lower end of
the trough.
2. The refuse may be rewashed into another
trough for recovering further amount of
clean coal.
Double cone classifier
1. Double coal is fed at the top of an
inverted conical vessel and a continuous
upward current of water enters through
the base.
2. Separation is done by adjusting the
velocity of water between the terminal
velocity of fall of the clean coal particles
and that of dirt.
Advantage
Large feed sizes can be easily processed
in this system.
 Wilfley Table
1. Working principle is same as that of
pneumatic table.
2. Water is used for washing.
3. Washing efficiency is high with unsized
coal of easy wash ability
4. The use of concentric table, tough washer,
upward current classifiers is limited to
coals of close size ranges and good wash
ability characteristics.
5. Efficiency is low.
 Froth Floatation Process
1. Froth is made in a floatation cell by bubbling air through
water in presence of frothing agents like cresol, pine oil or
alcohols.
2. When the dirty coal powder is added to the cell, the pure
coal particles adhere to the bubbles of the froth while dirt are
wetted by water and sink to the bottom of the cell.
3. The clean coal particles adhere to the froth which floats and
is separated.
4. This separation is improved by adding collecting agents like
soap to the system.
5. The clean coal is recovered by vacuum filtration of the froth.
Advantages
1. It is suitable for fine coals(˂0.5).
2. Used for producing ultra pure coal for electrode
carbon manufacture.

Disadvantages
3. It has a high capital and running cost.
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