Fine particle beneficiation through selective agglomeration with an emulsion binder

A high internal phase (HIP) water-in-oil emulsion was used as the binder in the selective agglomeration of fine coal from an aqueous suspension of coal and mineral particles. Traditionally, this agglomeration is achieved by a pure oil, hydrophobic, binder. However, the high cost associated with using pure oil makes the process economically unfeasible. Therefore, the emulsion binder introduced in this work was motivated by the economic need to reduce the amount of organic liquid required in the process. The effect of the agitation time during the agglomeration process and the composition of the emulsion on its performance as a binder were investigated. The best result obtained was for a HIP emulsion made from 3 wt % aqueous NaCl and diesel oil with sorbitan monooleate as the emulsifier. This emulsion had a dispersed phase volume fraction of 0.94 and achieved a 7.5-fold reduction in the amount of organic liquid required to achieve agglomeration.