The influence mechanism of linoleic acid methyl ester-hydrocarbon oil collector on the adsorption of hydrophilic groups on coal and the coal slime flotation process
ZHOU Wei
LI Long
WANG Zilong
WANG Zilei
Abstract：A suitable collector is the core for efficient flotation of fine coal particles.However,the selection logic of traditional surfactants limits the investigation into the interaction mechanism be-tween oxygen-containing functional groups on coal surfaces and reagent groups.This study com-bined simulation and experimental methods to systematically analyze the adsorption behavior and flo-tation enhancement mechanism of composite collectors on coal surfaces.Density Functional Theory(DFT)simulations showed that the average adsorption energies of water molecules,n-d ode cane,n-tetradecane,and methyl linoleate with hydrophilic characteristic units of coal were-0.34,-0.36,-0.38,and-0.46 eV,respectively.The adsorption stability followed the order:methyl linoleate＞n-tetradecane＞n-dodecane＞water molecules,indicating that hydrocarbon oils cannot easily replace the adsorption of methyl linoleate on the hydrophilic sites of coal.The ad-sorption energies of the three reagents were-0.56 eV(n-dodecane),-0.79 eV(n-tetradecane),and-0.84 eV(methyl linoleate),confirming that although methyl linoleate reduces the adsorp-tion sites of hydrocarbon oils,it can improve the overall adsorption stability by adsorbing hydrocar-bon oils,thereby enhancing the collecting effect.In terms of interaction forces,the adsorption be-tween coal and water molecules or methyl linoleate is dominated by hydrogen bonds combined with van der Waals forces,while the interaction with hydrocarbon oils mainly relies on van der Waals forces.These forces significantly improve the adsorption capacity and diffusivity of the reagent.Molecular dynamics(MD)simulations verified that methyl linoleate can increase the distance be-tween water molecules in the system and improve coal hydrophobicity.Flotation experiments showed that when the mass ratio of n-tetradecane to methyl linoleate was 1∶1 with a total dosage of 1 200 g/t,the clean coal yield reached 89.20％,accompanied by an increase in tailings ash content and enhanced separation selectivity.In conclusion,methyl linoleate can strengthen coal hydropho-bic modification and hydrocarbon oil adsorption,thereby improving flotation efficiency.This study provides theoretical support and practical solutions for reagent regulation in coal slime flotation.
Keywords：methyl linoleatecollectormolecular dynamicscoal slime flotationhydrophobicitycoal hydrophilic characteristic units
Publication Date：2026-01-30
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-28(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：14( 257-270 )