LAUSR

ABSTRACT The application of cyclonic microbubble flotation column (FCMC) from laboratory to industrial scale was investigated in this study. The FCMC was found to be superior to the standard self-aeration flotation cell for separating the fine coal (below 0.5 mm in size) as sampled from the Xiezhuang coal preparation plant (CPP), and tested under laboratory conditions. Compared with the flotation cell, the ash content of clean coal obtained by the FCMC was reduced by 1.34 percentage points, whereas the clean coal yield and the flotation efficiency index was increased by 2.90 and 6.64 percentage points, respectively. Under these industrial conditions, compared with the IF-45W flotation cell, the clean coal ash content obtained by the industrial FCMC-5000 (the column diameter was 5000 mm) was also reduced by 2.70 percentage points, whereas the clean coal yield and flotation efficiency index increased by 15.10 and 18.99 percentage points, respectively. Furthermore, annual profits of the Xiezhuang CPP increased by 46.773 million RMB by replacing the IF-4.5W flotation cell with the FCMC-5000. The results showed that the FCMC was an efficient coal flotation unit, and its application in separating fine coal has the potential to create significant profits for the enterprise.