Density-based segregation/separation performances of dense medium gas–solid fluidized bed separator (DMFBS) for coal cleaning and upgrading

Conventional and recent advances in gravity separation technologies for coal cleaning: A systematic and critical review

"Affordable and clean energy" is enshrined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; #7) because of its importance in supporting the sustainable development of society. As an energy source, coal is widely used because it is abundant and its utilization for electricity and heat generation do not require complex infrastructures and technologies, which makes it ideal for the energy needs of low-income and developing countries. Coal is also essential in steel making (as coke) and cement production and will continue to be on high demand for the foreseeable future. However, coal is naturally found with impurities or gangue minerals like pyrite and quartz that could create by-products (e.g., ash) and various pollutants (e.g., CO₂, NO_X, SO_X). To reduce the environmental impacts of coal during combustion, coal cleaning-a kind of pre-combustion clean coal technology-is essential. Gravity separation, a technique that separates particles based on their differences in density, is widely used in coal cleaning due to the simplicity of its operation, low cost, and high efficiency. In this paper, recent studies (from 2011 to 2020) related to gravity separation for coal cleaning were systematically reviewed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 1864 articles were screened after removing duplicates, and after a thorough evaluation 189 articles were reviewed and summarized. Among of conventional separation techniques, dense medium separator (DMS), particularly dense medium cyclone (DMC), is the most popular technologies studied, which could be attributed to the growing challenges of cleaning/processing fine coal-bearing materials. In recent years, most of works focused on the development of dry-type gravity technologies for coal cleaning. Finally, gravity separation challenges and future applications to address problems in environmental pollution and mitigation, waste recycling and reprocessing, circular economy, and mineral processing are discussed.

Studies on Bed Density in a Gas-Vibro Fluidized Bed for Coal Cleaning

Dry coal beneficiation has played a vital role during the initial stage of coal cleaning in recent years. Successful utilization of a gas-solid fluidized bed for >6 mm coal cleaning motivates scholars to explore the possibility of fine coal cleaning using dry beneficiation methods. In this study, pulsed flow was introduced into a fluidized bed to optimize bubble behavior, thus improving the density stability. The equation of minimum fluidization velocity (U _mfp) in a gas-vibro fluidized bed for coal preparation was investigated theoretically. An equation has been proposed for predicting U _mfp while considering changes in the friction coefficient (C _f) in the gas-vibro fluidized bed. Based on two-phase theory, the correlation of bed density was determined by analyzing the bubble behavior in the gas-vibro fluidized bed. The theoretical bed density was then compared with experimental data of the bed density and separation density. The predicted bed density in monodisperse and binary dense medium systems was found to be consistent with the experimental results. Overall, the equation of bed density is suitable for estimating the separation density in the gas-vibro fluidized bed.