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COAL AND GEMSTONES

PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY
LECTURE 4

COAL
General Coal Characterization

Coal Preparations / Coal Processing / Coal

Washing / Coal Beneficiation

Coal Analysis

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CHAPTER 2

Coal Preparations

SIZING
(Size Reduction / Screening)

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To Learn
• Coal preparation
Principles of Size reduction of coal in
mineral processing operations
Types of screens used in coal preparation
plant

SIZING
• Sizing is the process of separating mixed
mineral particles into groups of particles all of
the same size, or into groups in which all
particles range between definite maximum and
minimum sizes
• Sizing = Size reduction + Size classification
– Size reduction: Accomplished by crushers and
grinders
– Size classification: Accomplished mostly by
Screening (mechanical classification)
• Modern coal preparation is made possible by
efficient sizing

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Size Reduction

Size Reduction
• Run-of-mine (ROM) coal generally falls into two major
groups: that from:
 Underground mining (Continuous mining)
 Open Pit / Open cast (Strip mining)
• Continuous mining produce a finer product (up to about
30 cm in diameter
• Strip mining a coarser product (The particles of ROM
coal may be up to 1 m in diameter) that is crushed to
produce the desired size
• Further size reduction depends on the proposed use or
uses for the coal
 For example, for pulverized coal power plants as a rough
general rule, the coal is ground or pulverized to 80% less
than 200 mesh (0.075 mm) before it is blown into the boiler
furnace as a coal-air suspension

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Size Reduction cont…

• The coal must be reduced in size
before beneficiation
• Large coal is turned into more readily
usable sizes by crushing and breaking
• The optimum sizes are generally
determined by float and sink tests /
Washability studies to assess the size
necessary for effective liberation of
the coal from any shale particles

Principles of Crushing
• Impact
• Attrition
• Shear / Cutting
• Compression
Size reduction machines (crushers and grinders)
do their work in distinctly different ways:
• Compression is the characteristic action of
crushers
• Grinders employ impact and attrition,
sometimes combined with compression

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Principles of Crushing
Impact
• In crushing terminology, impact refers to the
sharp, instantaneous collision of one moving
object against another
• Both objects may be moving, or one object
may be motionless
• When a material is subjected to sudden
blow of force in excess of its strength, it fails
• Operation of hammer mill is an example of
dynamic force application by impact method

Principles of Crushing cont…

Attrition
• Attrition is a term applied to the reduction of
materials by scrubbing / rubbing it between two
hard surfaces
• Hammer mills operate with close clearances
between the hammers and the screen bars and
they reduce by attrition combined with shear and
impact reduction
• Though attrition consumes more power and exacts
heavier wear on hammers and screen bars, it is
practical for crushing the less abrasive materials
such as pure limestone
• Attrition crushing is most useful when material is
friable or not too abrasive, when a closed-circuit
system is not desirable to control top size

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Principles of Crushing cont…

Shear / Cutting
• Shear consists of a trimming or cleaving action
rather than the rubbing action associated with
attrition
• Shear is usually combined with other methods
• For example, single-roll crushers employ
shear together with impact and compression
• Shear crushing may be used when material is
somewhat friable and has a relatively low silica
content

Principles of Crushing cont…

Compression
• As the name implies, crushing by
compression is done between two surfaces,
with the work being done by one or both
surfaces
• Jaw crushers using this method of
compression are suitable for reducing
extremely hard and abrasive rock

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Size Reduction cont…

• Recall: Different cleaning processes work
better with different ranges of coal size
and the degree of cleaning possible is
intimately connected with the size of coal –
Ref. Figure 1 (LECTURE 2)
• Engineer will need as much information as
possible concerning the size distributions
produced by different types of machines
and how these can be modified by
different ways of operating the machines

Size Reduction cont…

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Size Reduction cont…

• Size reduction vs the desired product sizes
• The root of the problem of size reduction of coal
is to produce minimum fines
• In some size reducing machine fines are minimized
but they can not be eliminated altogether
In general:
• Compression is used for coarse reduction of hard
solids, to give relatively few fines
• Impact gives coarse, medium, or fine products
• Attrition yields very fine products from soft,
nonabrasive materials
• Cutting / Shear gives a definite particle size and
sometimes a definite shape, with few or no fines

TYPES OF CRUSHERS / GRINDERS

Roll Crusher
• Recall: ROM coal from strip mining usually
contains large lumps of coal, and a number of
different types of machines are efficient in
crushing these large sizes
• A popular piece of equipment is the single-roll
crusher; it is a simple and robust machine with
low fines production
• Primarily it consists of a heavy cast iron or steel
fabricated frame on which are mounted the
crushing roll and the stationary breaker plate

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Roll Crusher
• The roll usually has a series
of long teeth spaced at
intervals and various short
teeth covering the entire
crushing surface
• The coal is squeezed
between the revolving roll
and the breaker plate
• The long teeth act as
feeders and also penetrate
the lumps of coal, splitting
them into smaller pieces,
while the smaller teeth make
the proper size reduction

Roll Crusher
• The single roll crusher is popular
pieces of equipment and capable of
reducing ROM coal to a product with a
top size range 200 mm to 19 mm
• Double roll crusher consist of two roll
that rotate in opposite direction, can
reduce coal from 0.9 m to a product of
19 mm

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Roll Crusher

Roll Crusher

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Double-toothed roll crusher

• This type of crusher has the
advantage of greater
flexibility due to a variable
gap setting, less fines
production as compared to
the single-roll crusher since
the tooth-plate contact is
absent, and a smaller limit in
product size, depending on
the type of teeth used
• In the equipment shown, a
floating gearmatic drive
permits crushing roll
adjustment over a range of 5
in. (127 mm) and the roll
setting can be changed
without stopping the crusher
when a change in product
size is desirable

Rotary breaker (or Bradford

breaker)
• The breaker essentially consists of an outer cylinder with
an inner rotating perforated cylinder fitted with lifters
• Coal is fed in one end of the rotating cylinder where it
breaks because of the tumbling action due to gravity fall,
and pieces less than the hole sizes [typically 1% in. (38
mm)] pass out to a bottom collection trough, giving a
product with positive upper size control
• The flow rate through the breaker is adjusted so that pure
coal has broken through and rock passes through the exit,
but of course
• Large pieces of hard, dense rock will also act as grinding
media
• Because of the relatively mild breakage action, the
production of fines is minimized
• For harder coal, the length-to-diameter ratio is increased,
and the diameter is increased to give a higher force due to
the greater fall

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Rotary Breaker

Dresser Flextooth
• Crusher which consists of a
number of segments forming
a heavy rotor, with two
movable hammers per
segment
• The primary action is partly
impactive and partly
crushing, and broken
products are discharged
through grate bars. It can
accept feed of up to 30 in.
(760 mm) with a reduction
ratio of up to 15.
• Various sizes of these units
handle from 180 to 2500 stph
(164-2270 t/h) of medium
hard bituminous coal

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Impactors and Hammer Mills

• The coal is broken by
impact from the hammers
• It is thrown against breaker
plates and grate bars and,
if necessary, nipped and
sheared against the grate
bars
• The term hammer mill
usually seems to be
reserved for equipment
with discharge grates,
where oversize material
swirls around until it is
reduced to less than the
grate opening

Hammer Mill
• The hammer mill is a device in which the feed
coal is contacted (impacted) by rotating
hammers and then further impacted by
contact with grid breaker plates
• Usually produces a relatively high proportion
of fine material
• Ring type hammer mill is modification of the
hammer mill which developed to help
minimize the amount of fines in the product

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Hammer Mill
Hammer Mill Ring type Hammer Mil

Hammer Mills

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Impactors Crusher
• Size reduction
device hat strike
(impact) the coal
which is then
thrown against a
hard surface or
against other coal
particles

Tumbling Mill
• Is a grinding and pulverizing machine
consisting of a shell or drum rotating on a
horizontal axis, the material coal is fed in
one end of the mill where it comes into
contact with grinding material (media)
such as iron balls
• As the drum rotates: the material and
grinding balls tumble against each other ,
the material being broken chiefly by
attrition

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Ball Mill

Size Classification

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Size Classification
• Sizing applies the modern mechanical
screen and the liquid-solid cyclone
(hydrocyclone) to the process of sizing
solid particles as applied to coal
preparation
• The state-of-the-art classification
technologies generally can be divided into
three groups:
Centrifugal classification
Hydraulic classification and
Screening classification

Size Classification
1. Hydrocyclone is the most widely used
centrifugal classification devices
• Hydrocyclone has been the principal unit
of operation for fine coal classification for
several decades due to:
Its high mass and volumetric throughput
capacity
Small floor space requirement and
Relatively effective classification

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Size Classification
2. Hydraulic classifiers are also used to achieve
size classification for fine particles
• The principle of operation of the hydraulic
classifier is based on the concept of
differential terminal settling velocity of solid
particles of different size or mass
• Due to:
The low classification efficiency and also
The requirement of large floor space
• It becomes less and less popular within the
coal-processing industry

Size Classification

3. Screening classification
• Another method to achieve fine particle
classification is to use screens
• Screening is a mechanical process that
separates particles by size
• Screening is an important function in
coal preparation plants, either dry or wet

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Screening

Screening and Classification

• Screening, also called mechanical

classification, is a separation process
that utilizes the differences in particle
size

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Screening…
• Screening in modern preparation plants is done for the
following reasons:
1. Removal of fine coal before a size reduction step
2. Size separation of the coal into a coarse and fine
fraction for sized products or for processing in
coarse and fine coal circuits
3. Recovery of heavy media from heavy media coal
cleaning circuits
4. Dewatering
5. Rock and trash removal by handpicking on a screen
• Screens in screening plant (no. 2 above) are used to
group process particles into ranges by size
• Dewatering screens (no. 4 above) are used to remove
surface water from the product

Screening…
Hence:
– Application of Screening:

1. Scalping
2. Sizing / grading
3. Desliming
4. Draining and rinsing
5. Dewatering

• Fig below: Is a generalized flowsheet of a

plan showing the use of screens in the coal
preparation process

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Coal Preparation Plant

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Screening…
• Sizing of coal is defined in terms of the opening
through which an individual particle will or will not
pass, or as two openings, the larger of which
passes the particle and the smaller of which
retains the particle
• Screening accomplishes sizing by passing coal of
a wide range of sizes through a series of screens,
each of a decreasing size
• Particles of size more than the aperture size of the
screen are retained and less size particles are
passed through the apertures
• Both the oversize and undersize particles are
collected as overflow and underflow separately
• The individual screen discharges are then directed
into different screen products for subsequent sale
or processing

Screening…
• The screen surface can
be fixed or movable
As such:
• Screening fall under the
following general
categories:
1. Dry screening and wet Horizontal screen
screening
2. Moving / dynamic
screen (mechanically
vibrated or electro-
mechanically vibrated)
and static screen
machines
3. Horizontal or inclined
screens Inclined screens

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Screening...

Vibrating screen processing coal

Screening...

Agitation of the bed of material must be

sufficient to expose all particles to the
screen apertures several times (particle
stratification) during the travel of the
material from feed end to the discharge
end of the screen

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Screens Used in Coal

• Common Types:
• Static
– Grizzly
– Sieve Bend

• Dynamic
– Vibrating Screen
– High Frequency Screen
– Sifter

Screens Used in Coal

Hence:
• The types of screens used for coal are:
1. Scalper Screen /
Grizzlies (fixed inclined screens)
2. Revolving Screens (Trommels)
3. Shaking screens (or jigging screens)
4. Vibrating Screens
5. Dewatering Screen
6. Sieve Bends

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Screen Used in Coal

• A static sieve bend screen is widely used in coal
processing plants to separate heavy medium
from coarse coal and also to dewater i.e., Sieve
bends are used both for sizing and dewatering
services
However,
• The sieve bend screen tends to be:
Less efficient
Low capacity
High maintenance and
High in operational cost
• Recently developed screening technologies
have been proven to be able to provide size
classification at 150 μm or even finer while
maintaining satisfactory performance

Further Reading

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