Improving Oxidized Coal Flotation Using Biodiesel as a Collector

Abstract Oxidized coal is difficult to float using either kerosene or diesel. In this investigation, we compared the flotation results obtained using biodiesel with those using diesel as a collector. It was found that the biodiesel could improve flotation of oxidized coal. FTIR study results show that the biodiesel contains much more abundant unsaturated fatty acids than diesel and the oxidized coal has much less hydrophobic functional groups than fresh coal. Keywords: BiodieselCollectorDieselFlotationFTIROxidized coal Acknowledgments This work was supported by the China University of Mining and Technology Special Funds for the Graduate Practice and Research Innovation (GSF121108), and the China University of Mining and Technology Open Sharing Funds for the Large Equipment.