Oil agglomeration of a lignite treated with microwave energy: Effect of particle size and bridging oil

Oil agglomeration of Sivas–Divriği (S–D) Uluçayır lignite fines was carried out using kerosene and kerosene–extract oil (which was obtained from lignite treated with microwave energy) mixture as a bridging oil. The effects of parameters such as the amount and type of bridging oil, microwave time and particle size on the agglomeration performance were investigated. The amount of kerosene was varied from 5 to 30 wt.% of the initial lignite loading. The values of the grade and recovery increased with an increase in the amount of kerosene added. Extract oil fraction of the lignite extract at various ratios in kerosene increased the agglomeration recovery from 95.88% to 98.55%. The effect of microwave time was investigated and it was found that the grade was also increased with increasing microwave time (4, 8 and 10 min). The grade of char (microwave time: 8 min) was increased in comparison with the original lignite while decreasing its recovery. Dense medium separations of the lignite were conducted and the results of their grade recovery performances were compared with those of agglomeration of the particles. During the inspection of particle size effect on the dense medium separation, the recovery was increased remarkably (from 12.07% to 89.50%) with increasing particle size, while decreasing the grade (from 0.732 to 0.697). In the oil agglomeration of lignite the recovery values were increased with increasing particle size.