Enhanced flotation of hard-to-float coking coal with composite collectors from the perspective of foaming performance

XU Bowen; LI Zhihong; CAI Shuangji; HAO Bo; DONG Lianping; YANG Hongli; YANG Runquan

doi:10.11799/ce202511027

Abstract：To enhance the flotation efficiency of hard-to-float coking coal,we prepared a novel composite collector(B2)by mixing kerosene(B1)with isomeric alcohol ethoxylates 1305(TO-5).We also compared the performance of B1 and B2 on their flotation effect,flotation kinetic characteristics and frothing performance during multi-stage flotation of hard-to-float coking coal.The results show that:at B1 dosage of 3000 g/t,low level of frother resulted in significant decrease of flotation index.By contrast,at B2 dosage of 1000 g/t,the clean coal with similar ash and higher yield ban be obtained at the same low frother level.The flotation kinetic tests show that the R2 of the flotation fitting employing the classical first-order kinetic model ae both above 0.999.The k value of B1 at 3000 g/t,B2 at 1000 g/t and B2 at 3000 g/t are 1.3439,1.5809 and 1.7203,respectively,indicating that the flotation rate of B2 is higher.The timed-release flotation curves show that B2 can achieve higher clean coal yields than B2 at the same clean ash level.Surface tension tests show that the TO-5 molecule in B2 can significantly reduce the surface tension of the gas/liquid interface.High-speed camera images of bubbles and laser particle sizing tests show that B2 can produce more bubbles with smaller size,and XPS test show that TO-5 can increase the content of hydrophobic functional groups on coal surface.The findings show that B2 is an efficient collector to strengthen the hard-to-float coking coal flotation,which provide a reference for the subsequent research and development of high-efficiency collectors.