Comparative Study of Separation Performance of a Spiral and Dense-medium Cyclone on Cleaning Coal

Abstract

Spiral separators and dense-medium cyclones (DMCs) are widely used for separation of −1 + 0.125 mm fine coal. In this study, testing was carried out using −1 + 0.125 mm fine coal with low near density material to produce a concentrate, using both a spiral and DMC. Clean coal with 8.31% ash content was obtained with the spiral at 37.39% yield, 47.76% combustible recovery and 0.150 Ep value. For the DMC, the combustible recovery of clean coal at the ash of 8.31% ash was improved to 80.84% at 62.98% yield, and 0.118 Ep value. The advantage of the DMC is further proved by analysis using Fuerstenau upgrading curves.