Abstract
Coal plays a vital role in steel production and electricity generation. In recent times, coal production has been increased multiple times as the demand for steel and energy increased. Presently, about 41% of the world’s electricity requirements are met by thermal coals. Increased utilization of coal doubled carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere, which necessitates the development of green methods for coal utilization. The coal preparation techniques are eco-friendly and are advantageous in mitigating the release of harmful toxic gases into the atmosphere. In this chapter, coal preparation techniques employed in the generation of clean coal for various applications are briefly discussed. Present-day coal washeries are equipped with various advanced equipment related to the sizing, concentration, clarification, and drying. The prime objective of the coal preparation is to separate the clean coal at the coarsest possible size. Conventional gravity separators, such as Jigs and dense media cyclones, are very common for treating coarse particles. Whereas, processing of fine particles could be achieved following advanced gravity concentrators and froth flotation techniques. Processing fine particles is a challenging task, which adds to the operating cost and increases associated handling problems. The chapter also sheds light on the plant practices adopted to treat different coals and modular plants.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank M/s. FLSmidth India Limited, M/s. Tenova India Private Limited, and M/s. CDE Asia Limited for furnishing the figures of various equipment and modular plants included in this manuscript. The authors would like to thank the Director, CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, India, for permitting to publish this chapter.
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Kundu, T., Das, S.K., Biswal, D.K., Angadi, S.I. (2021). Mineral Beneficiation and Processing of Coal. In: Jyothi, R.K., Parhi, P.K. (eds) Clean Coal Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68502-7_1
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