\

'~ INPROMIN )12.._

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TFS-I-22

COAL CLEANING BY DENSE MEDIUM PROCESSES

with particular reference to
the new Tri-Flo development
H. J. Ruff- Director
Inpromin - Southampton (UK) and Genova (Italy
Conference 'Introduction to Coal Preparation'
Sweden 22.2.83.

1.

Introduction
Dense medium separation is one of a number of techniques

available for coal cleaning.

By way of introducing this subject

it is perhaps useful to briefly discuss coal cleaning in general

and why coal needs to be cleaned at all.
There are a number of reasons which contribute to this
mechanisation of mining
the mining of poorer seams
the need for efficient utilisation and
greater concern with the environment
In former times coal - like other minerals - was mined
manually and selectively and loaded by hand.

Not surprisingly,

the coal was generally clean - there was no payment for dirt - and contained- f-e-w-f-i-nes.
Preparation consisted of hand picking and screening.
With mechanisation all this has changed a great deal. Today,
coal from a long wall face is likely to contain more than 50%
of material smaller than 12 mm,

<lTJd 15% to

20~

finer than

0.5 mm.
Because machines cannot reliably differentiate between coal
and stone - even with nucleonic sensors,

40-50~

of the Run-of-

Mine produced by a modern mechanised deep mine is likely to be

high ash refuse.
Whether the coal is used as chemical feed stock, for the
manufacture of coke, or for heating, modern processes demand
consis t en t input to maintain efficient operation and minimum
pollution.
Coal Preparation provides the vital link between production
and

use~

- 2 <

2.

. ~-

Coal Impurities and Methods of Cleaning

Dirt associated with the coal varies widely. Some dirt
is within the seam, from the way it was formed or through
igneous intrusions, or it may come from the roof above the
seam or the floor oelow, or arise from faulting.
Inherent dirt and organic sulphur cannot - be removed by
conventional preparation processes. On the other hand, the
dirt from outside the seam proper and the dirt arising from
faulting and intrusions can be removed more or less effeo~-
ively with proven technology.
The impurities may consist of carbonaceous shales, sandstone, clays, pyrites etc. They are heavier than olean coal
and can, therefore, be tackled by gravity processes. Only
the finest - sizes are treated by other methods, in the main
by froth flotation.
High gradient magnetic separation is one other process
which has attracted a good deal of interest these last few
years because it ~ay prove a good, low energy alternative
system for the removal of both ash and sulphur. But so far,
in spite of much interest, economic results are not yet
certain, nor thought to be imminent ( 1 ).
Gravity processes are simple and can prod-uce a good
separati on-a own t o remarkably small--grain siz~~-.--Therny~-
consist of two main groups. One is based on flowing or
pulsating water and inc1udes jigs, shaking tab~es, cones
and spirals and will be described in a later paper~
The second group uses a suspension of fine solids in
water and is called dense or heavy medium separation, D M S
or H M S.

3.

Principles of Dense Medium Separation

Low ash coal is usually lighter than 1.40 kg/1 and
: carbonaceous shale heavier than 1.80 kg/1. Middlings
contain more or less im~urities and consequently are of
interm.edia te density.
If sized raw coal is introduced into a suspension of
intermediate .density, the heavier, higher ash components
~ill sink and th~ lighter, lower ash coal will float.

In order to operate continuously and efficiently, Dense

Medium Separation Systems are required to maintain the medium
at the right consistency . and density in the face of contamination from feed and breakage.
Early systems used media consisting of solutions of salt
and suspensions of sand, baryte and shale.

Today, finely

ground magnetite is used because it is recovered very easily,

it is ecorwmic in use and high sep-arating dens1ties can be
reached easily.
Consumption varies with the size of the coal treated,
design of plant and operation and maintenance.

In a modern

plant it might contribute 0.30 - 0.90 SEK/ton of coal treated,

corresponding to 500 -

1500 g/ton and the cost of magnetite

of 600 SEK/ton.
A dense medium plant consists of four main parts as
follows

3.1 Feed Preparation

This is designed to minimise the fines and contamination (mainly clays and water) entering the dense medium
and thus facilitates the maintenance of steady operating
conditions.
- 3--;-2 Sep-a-rating

Ves ~J:

This may be "static" or "dynamic".

In static separators

the surface of the pool is level, medium enters the pool

continuously and,

together with the floating coal, overflows

a t o nP. s ide.
The heavy particles sink and are removed from the
bottom of the pool. !hP.y sink quickly if they are large
and heavy and slowly if they are small and/or near the
density of separation.
In order to accelerate the separation for fine and
difficult near gravity particles, dynamic systems were
in troduced.

Here medium and feed solids enter cyclones

or tubular vessels and are subjected to high centrifugal

forces which rapidly force heavy particles to the wall
and l ig ht particles into the central vortex.

- 4 -

Medium Reclaim and Cleaning Circuit

After separation the two or three products (Clean Ooal,
Middlings and Shale) leave the separating

ve~sel w~th

vary-

ing amounts of dense medium.

In the great majority of cases these products pass over
horizontal vibrating screens.

On the first section of thes

screens the free medium is drained from the products, and

immediately returned to the correct medium sump for recirculation.
Further down the screen the products are washed by
curtains of water in order to remove the remaining adhering
medium before final dewatering.

The underflow from thi3

section of the screen is the dilute medium.

This is passed to magnetic separators which reclaim the
magnetic magnetite at high density and reject the bulk of
the water and non-magnetic fines and slimes

res~lting

imperfect feed preparat.ion and material degradation.

from
The

recovered magnetite is de-magnetised by passing through a

de-magnetising coil and then returned to the system for
re-use.
In this connection it should perhaps be recalled that
eve-n- with modern-,--h-gtd-y- ef-ficien-t wet d-r-um magne-t-i-c:- - -- separators, the consumption of magnetite of a large coal
plant will be significant and proper mechanised systems
have to be provided for the easy addition of make up
magnetite.

3.4 Density Control

In modern coal preparation plants the density is
controlled automatically.

Density can be measured with

dip tubes, differential pressure pads or nuclear density

gauges.

In

recent years the latter ones have become

accepted widely with appropriate statutory safeguards on

account of their reliability and safety.
The density signal obtained can be used in a number of
ways to maintain the required density of the circulating
correct medium in spite of variations in feed quality,
quantity and moisture.

- 5 -

Often the cleaning circuit is adjusted permanently to

clean and return sufficient high density medium for the
wettest and dirti e st fe e d.

The signal can then be used

to actuate a simple water valve to dilute the circulating

medium as required.

In other plants the signal is used to vary the medium

passed to the cleaning circuit, as required, so as to
mn-m-ise the loa-d of the magnetic separ-a-t-o-r.
A combination of these two systems is being used at
the latest 100 t/h Tri-Flo plant engineered by Inpromin
for a Mining

Compa~y

in Greece.

Some coal preparation plants have a separate "overdense"

c irculating cir c uit which can provide a variable bleed to
the correct medium c i rcuit.
4.

Types of Den s e Medium Plant

- 4.1 Static Separators
The earliest dense medium separators consisted of cones.
The feed entered the surface of the pool on one side.

Most

of the medium was introduced through "organ pipes" of

different lengths along the vertical axis of the cone and
overflowe aw:Lth E e f"loating coal particles.

The heavy

particle s sank to the bottom and were removed by airlift

o r thr o u g h lo c ked c hambers.

These were followed by "baths "

o f v a r io u s other shapes which mainly differed in the way

s i n ks we re rem o ved

- . usually by chain scrapers, elevators,

r ubber b e lt s , lifter s or wheels.

To d ay,

the maj o rity of "static" separating vessels are

r o tating drum s eparators with internal lifters or static

boxes with rotating perforated wheels for the removal of
the sink s .
Tra n sport of the float particles may be simply by the
overflow of the medium or it may be assisted by paddles
or s imilar devices
Go o d se par a tion can be achieved with static systems
~i t h

particles do wn t o a b o ut

3 - 6 mm.

However, with

s uch a b o t t o m s ize th e s mall p ar ti c les sink slowly an d

th e capacity h as t o be re d u ced acco rdingly.

Theref o r e ,

s tati c s y s te ms n or mall y 'on ly o p e r a te with b o ttom size s

! I'

1 I

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. .. ....

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- 6 4.2 Dynamic Separators

These were introduced by the Dutch State Mines, followed
later by the Dyna Whirpool (DWP), Vorsyl and Tri-Flo
separators.
In all of these the medium is introduced tangentially
into a cylinder and separation takes place under centrifugal
force.

Dynamic separation can be classified, depending upon

whether the raw coal is fed into the separator with the
medium under high pressure or separately at

atmospheri~

pressure.
A pressurised feed is required with cyclones and the
Vorsyl separator of the British National Coal Board.

It

is obtained either by passing the coal with the medium

through the pumps, or by pumping the medium alone to a
high level head box.

In that case the coal can be

elevated to this headbox by conveyor and from there fed

to the separator via a tall standpipe.

The height required

is_ typically about 9 x dia of the cyclQne or about 4.5 to

7 m above the inlet of the separator ( 2 ).
By contrast, the introduction of the coal feed directly
into the open vortex of the DWP and of the Tri-Flo separator
requires no extra pressure.
- - --

---

--

--

Using -either of these systems

--

--

allows plants to be kept lower and yet pumping of coal is

avoided with savings both in pump wear and coal degradation.

Cyclones, DWP and Vorsyl separators have been long
established in coal preparation plants and frequently
described in the literature.
On the other hand, the Tri-Flo system has been
developed much more recently and, so far, mainly for mineral
applications.

Nevertheless, the operating results from the

first 7 Tri-Fl? _mineral installations, and many other tests,

have been so remarkable and a number of its features so
specially interesting for coal applications, that a short
description here would seem appropriate.

- 7 5.

The Tri-Flo Separator

This device differs from the other dyanmic vessels in that

it combines 2 stages of separation in a single vessel.

Two

stag e wa s hing ca rt produce significant improvements in recovery

( 3 ) a nd can a l so produce 3 separate products from a single
co mpa c t vessel.
The separat o r has a cylindrical body as shown in the cutaway sec tion of Fig . 3.

The vessel is divided by a partition

wall into two co nsec utive chambers communicating with each other
thr o ugh an axial orifice, each chamber being equipped with an
i nv o lut e media inlet an d sink discharge.
first c hamber o f th e
pla ce

~Sivi ng

v ~ssel

The feed enter s the

where a first separation takes

a " s ink l" product.

The float of the first

s t age is the feed of the seco nd chamber where a second

separa ti o n , generally a t lower density, takes place giving
a " sj_nk 2 " p r od uct;
fin a l

the float o f the second chamber is the

float product.

Apart from - the fundamental novelty inherent in tft-is two

stage design, the opportunity was also taken for improving
th e g eometry of the vessel, and particularly that of the
various parts.
vJea

a r1d

As a re s ult, internal friction, and therefore

d eg r ad 8 t ion,

were reduced and capacities increased.

Fo r example, when Sachtleben Bergbau G.m.b.H. introduced

th e ir first Tri-Flo separator at their Wolfach Plant, that
un i t r e pl aced a s ingle s tage separator of equal diameter.
Operating the new two stag e s eparator over the first four
mo nth s s h owed it to be ca pable of handling approximately
30% mo re tonnag e with an in c rea s e of only 18% in total medium
c irculation.

Over the s ame period the losses were reduced

by 30% , co rre spo nding to an increase in long term recovery of

some 2 - 3% compared with the previous four months. ( 4

).

A s imilar study on the potential benefits possible from

adding a seco nd re-wash stage to well operating cyclone coal
plant s wa s publi s hed at the IX International Coal Preparation
Congress ln Delhi.

In this Paper the authorn postulated a pay

o ff tinte of 3 - 2 4 mo nth s f o r a variety of coals, even a ss um i ng

"'O nl e 15% ex tr a inve s tment f o r a re -wa s h stage. ( 5 ) .

8 6.

The Tri-Flo Separator and Coal Preparation

So far, operating experience has been with high density

mineral plants.

Results from these - including the first

2-medium, 3-product plant and from numerous tests, were

reported in detail at the XIV International Mineral
Processing Conference in Toronto in October 1982. ( 4
These results

sh~wed

).

that the integral second stage

significantly improved long term efficiency, particularly

when the re-ed wa-s-var.iable, contained large a-mounts of--el ther
float or sink fractions, or much near gravity material -. It is reasonable to expect similar improvements at lower
densities and indeed the first low density 100 t/h Tri-Flo
coal plant is due to start up shortly in

Austria~

We shall now examine the various features and their

potential for improving the design of future coal
6.1

Higher Long Term Efficiency

Some

~ime

ago an exercise was carried out

the

British National Coal Board on the technical and

economic comparisons between Baum jigs and dense
medium cyclones.

It was found that even with "easy

coals" the overall recovery

~~~igs

wa~

almost

81

l~ss

than with complete dense medium treatment

and that even 1% extra recovery would pay for the

difference in cost between the two systems.

Profits

would be higher still when separatiomwere required

below 1.5 or with difficult coals. ( 6 ).
The evidence accumulated so far suggests that
the long term effect of two stage separation should
help to improve these results even more.

Experience

may well prove that with a 2-Dtage separation the

need for expensive homogenisation plants may become
significantly less pressing.

6 .2

'";)

Low Level Feed Entry

without pumping of coal
This reduces wear on the pumps and any degradation

of the product , the latter affecting vend and the load

on the water clarification plant .
In a recent paper describing the automation of a
pump fe d cyclone installation treating 0-38 mm coal,
the feed co ntained 64.5% of +6.3 mm.

The products

contained o nly 50.4% and 50. O% respectively . ( 7 ) .

The a lt e rnative t o pumping the cyclone feed means
a hi g h leve l gravi ty feed with a corresponding increase
in building h ei ght and cost.

The low level gravity feed

o f the Tr i-Flo se parator make s a lower building and shorter

feed conveyor s

possib le~

with resulting saving of space

and cos t - and redu c ed environmental impact.

6. 3

Hi g h S ink s Capacity
due t o the sec ond sinks outlet
In creasing ly high proportions of waste have to be

rejected and con ventiemal single stage separators have

to be down rated to stay within their sinks outlet
ca pacity i n order to avoid blockages or contamination
o f the clean coa l. ( 8 ) .
With the two s inks outlets available here the second
sca venger s tage ensures that any remaining heavy or near
gra vity heavy mat eria l is rejected in the lightly loaded
second or ''cl eane r" stag e.
6 .4

Th ird Product Facility

When th e s y s tem ope rate s with a single medium for

bo t h the first and the second compartment there will

inherently be a s light difference in quality between
Sinks 1 and 2.

In some cases this is insignificant

a nd merely pr oduces a sha rper two product separati o n

by re-cleanin g the float product from the first compartment.

In that ca s e Sink 1 and Sink 2 are combined. In

o ther cases the s li g htly lower ash Sink 2 may be used

s eparate ly, perhaps in a local fluidised bed boiler
ca pable of operating ef ficiently with a high ash or
high 'su lphu r f eed.

In a third case it may be desirable to operate with

two more widely separated densities. For example, one
may wish to produce a low ash, low sulphur premium coal,
a second quality fuel and a clean reject with the facility
for totally separate control of the two cut points.
In principle this is similar to the conditions under
which a Tri-Flo plarit has been operating in Northern Italy
__s ince 1981. That plalLt__Qperates at ~ather high densities,
viz. 2.75 and 3.2 kg/l,_ producing a clean, low density
float, an excellent metallurgical fluorspar as the intermediate product, and a Sink 1 containing over 90~ of the
available lead and intergrpwn heavies. Operation is with a special, patented circuit with two separately controlled
densities. This was a particularly interesting development
which proved remarkably simpl~ and steady to operate, even
by men without prior experience in process plant operation.
This facility could be useful for smaller local cleaning
plants where two separate conventional plant in series
could not be justified. ( 4 ).
6.5 Fine Mediums
All dynamic systems operating with high centrifugal
-t-Grces requi J!.e-a-~i-ne-F---medium th-an sta-t--ic s-ystems- i--n- o-rd-e-r- to prevent excessive segregation of coarse medium towards
the sink outlet. This is particularly important with a
cyclone separator and with the small diameter sinks outlet
of the Vorsyl separator and explains why these separate at
a higher density than that of the feed medium. With the
parallel sides of the DWP and of the Tri-Flo separator
and tangential sinks outlet the radius of the vessel
stays constant and it is therefore inherently easier to
maintain the required accelerating forces and keep the
density gradient more nearly constant over the full
lengths of the separator. ( 9 ). When high accelerating
forces are required for particularly difficult or fine
separations the ve$sel can be operated with high inlet
velocities. On the other hand, when these are not
- required velocities and forces can be reduced and
somewhat coarser medium can be used. Coarse medium
is more easily recovered and results in reduced
consumption.

11 -

S i m1 1 a n l y , i

s n o u l d ll e l e s s of a p r o b 1 em ,t o

operate at the specially low densities required for

some low su lphur separations where media become
reaJily unsLable i.n conventional vessels.

6.6

Larger Top Size

Traditi onal Coal Preparation Plants often

consisted of three main sections to treat coarse coal,

small coal and slurries.
Now that little coarse coal remains after--mechanised mining many new plants are simplified by
eliminating the coarse dense medium section.

In some

cases the size range treated in the dynamic systems

has been incceased t o 35/4'5 mm with good results
leaving very little oversize to be c rushed.

In other

case s jigs are used for a high ash rougher separati o n .

Dynamic dense media can then be use d either to rewash the high ash jig product at lower density o r
t o re-wash the jig middlings. -=In all these cases the possibility of accepting
coarse r coal in the dynamic system is useful and is
becoming mo re widely accepted.
With the Tri-Flo se parator the coal enters and
-

--

passes through both stages of the vessel axially,

ridi ng on the inner fa ce of the rotating medium.
The wear and chance of blockage is low and thus
s hould give even more scope if even larger top sizes
s h o uld become interesting.
The restri c t ion for the sinks removal are also
r11inirnal, with typical outlet diameters of 130 mm.
'(.

CorJ c ]usi o ns
Dense medium is widely used in coal preparation practice

and provides a flexible system which can be easily automated

t o a djust to cha nges in feed or markets .
It see ms . ljkely lh a t these features will be importan t
1.-1

h e 11 i rn p o r t e d c o a J. n e e d s t. o be r e -was h e d a n d t h a t s o me

r ecen t. devel o pmc: nl s Je :.;c r j heJ he r e co 1..1ld pr o ve useful .

! i ., l.

Hill'J'

REFERENCES:

* Delhi = 9th

International Coal
Preparation Congress

1.

HUCKO, MARONDE

"The Application of HGMS in Coal Preparation"

* Delhi 1982. (F2)

2.

MENGELERS

"The Influence of Cyclone Diameter on

Separating Performance and Econany"
* Delhi 1982. (B4)

FERRARA, RUFF

"Dynamic Dense Meditm Separation Processes".

Further developments with particular reference
to the Tri-Flo Separator. ERZHETAlL 35 ( 1982)
6!7!8

4.

DESSENIBUS & others

"Plant Operation of a new Heavy Media Dynamic

Concentrator for Metallic & nonHmetallic Ore
Processi.Dg". XIV Intl.Min.Proc.Conf., Toronto
1982.

5.

ABBOTI & others

"The Ecol'l01ii1cs of Secondary Separation with

Recirculation in Dense Medium Processes".
* Delhi 1982. (G3)

6.

CAMMACK,
"Coal Beneficiation by Dense Medium Cleaning"
Deputy Chief Coal
Mackay School o~f Mines_Symposium,PreparatiOn-Engineer, Nevada 1978.
N.C.B.

7.

TERRY

"Automation and Control of Heavy Medium Cyclone

* Delhi 1982. (D2)

8.

HILLMAN

"The Technology and Economics of large-capacity

Coal Preparation Plants".
"Mine & Quarry" Jan/Feb. 1983.

9.

KIRCHBERG, SGHULZE

"Study of the Flow & Separation Conditions in

a Dyna Whirlpool Cylindrical Cyclone"
Report No. 156 - Freiberg, DDR.