Dry Cleaning of Coal-Status In the USA

B.K.Parekh, FGX SepTech,LLC,

Lexington, KYwww.fgxseptech.com

Introduction• Wet cleaning plants and

processes are:– More Efficient;– Effectively clean from

coarse to ultrafine;– Not impacted by feed

moisture.

• WHY DRY CLEANING?– Scarcity of water;– Particle degradation in wet

cleaning plants;– Dewatering issues avoided;– Reduced capital and

operating costs;– Reduced environmental

impacts.

1930 1940 1950 1960 1970

20

15

10

5

0

MILLION TONS CAPACITY

(Mcculough et. al., 1968)

Dry cleaning is making a global comeback in the 21st century

Coal Preparation Equipment used with respect to size of the coal

Coal Preparation Equipment used with respect to size of the coal

Dry Coal Separators (e.g. FGX)

Basis of Dry Separation of Coal/Minerals

• Size

•Color/Composition

•Densities

•Electrostatic, or magnetic properties

Size Based Separation

Imperial Technologies Accelerator

Variable Speed Vertical Impact BreakerFractures Coal without breaking rock, so screening separation is

made Processes 10” x 3” ROM Coal to Uniform Sized, Cleaner Coal

Product Liberates coal from pyretic material to improve FGX processing

efficiency

Accelerator Benefits

Liberate Coal From Rock/Shale with screening (Lower Ash & Sulfur)

Improve Raw Coal Quality Uniform Sized Raw Coal Feed Increases Plant Recovery as

compared to crushing whole feed

Maximize Coal Throughput Reduce Plant Wear

Color/Composition based Separation

Dry Jet Process

X-Ray Sorting

Pilot-Scale operation of Dry Jet Process

Electrostatic, or Magnetic Separations

Rotary Triboelectrostatic Separator

Sample Distributor

Feeder

Separation Zone

Rotary Charger

SplitterTo Vacuum

Cyclone

Sample Distributor

Feeder

Separation Zone

Rotary Charger

SplitterTo Vacuum

Cyclone

Hematite

Phosphate Slimes

Density based Separation

Allmineral Air jig

Dry, Fluidized Bed Table Separator• Earliest air tables date back to 1850’s.• Major development during 1910-1930.• Major technology developments in China over the last

two decades.

(a) (b)

Support

Vibrator

SeparatingDeck

SuspensionMechanism

Feed

BafflePlate

AirChamber

Coal Middling Rock

Air

Back Plate

VibratingMotion

AirChamber

AirDuct

DischargeBaffle Plate

CoalRock

SeparatingDeck

Overflow

What’s FGX SepTech Technology?

A completely dry coal preparation method. A simple, efficient & cost-effective separation process.

A GREEN and energy efficient technology.

Coal Properties Requirements for the FGX Separator

• ROM Coal size 3inch X 0 (minus 6 mm or 4 mesh material should be about 20%)

• Surface moisture should be ~ 10%

• Rocks and pyritic sulfur should be in liberated (free) state

Plus 6 mm Powder River Tests

• Mobile 5 tph FGX Separator

• Operating Parameters– Longitudinal Slope (0o –

1.5o)– Cross Table Slope (8.5o)– Blower Frequency (50 – 60

hz)– Table Frequency (40 – 50

hz)

MOBILE FGX PILOT-SCALE UNIT

FGX PILOT-Scale Unit

Dry Air Table Separation

Seeing is believing

We’ll show you BLACK & WHITE (GREY)separation.

Benefits Saving transportation costs. Saving water costs. Saving processing costs & increasing plant productivity.

(Less maintenance, less chemical, less headache for water treatment…)

Permitting is relatively easier.

FGX Pneumatic Coal Cleaning installations in

the USA

Eagle River Coal ,LLCHarrisburg, IL

• Installed in the year 2011

•High sulfur coal and about 20% ash

•Operating for the last 4 yearsAt a rate of ~ 250 tph

Dry Coal Separator at the Eagle River Mining

FGX Dry Coal Separator Specifications at Eagle River Coal LLC

• Total capacity of the plant 250 tph – 3” raw feed

• Major equipment includes 2 x 125 tph vibrating tables

• Plant produces Coarse and small size clean coal, middlings, refuse, and fine dust

• Cleaning set-up at a cut point density of 1.8

Accelerator

Accelerator Rejects

FGX- 24A

Clean CoalMiddlingsRejects

Process Flow Diagram for the Eagle River Coal LLC

ROM Coal

Eagle River Coal, LLC ROM Coal Data:

Ash 16 –18%

Sulfur ~6.0 % St

Total moisture 4.5%

Surface moisture 1.5%

HGI 52-60

Eagle River Coal, LLC Product Data

Product Ash% Sulfur% Heating Value(Btu/lb)

ROM 16-18 5-5.5 12,000-12,200

Clean Coal 8.5-9.5 3.5-3.8 12,800-13,000

Middlings 10.0-12.0 3.8-4.5 11,850-12,250

Refuse 20-28 ~8.00 8,000-8,500

Yield (two products clean coal and middlings) ~ 80%

Combustible Recovery ~92%

Holcim Cement Co., Texas

• FGX-3 Installed in 2012• Process lignite at the a rate of 30 tph• Removes > 80% of the liberated rocks from the ROM feed.

FGX-3 at Holcim Cement Co, Texas

Sun Energy Group, Indiana

FGX-12 installed in July 2015

FGX-12 at Sun Energy Group

Product Yield% Ash% Sulfur% Heat Value(btu/lb)

Clean Coal 82.6 8.2 3.75 11913

Tailings 17.4 75.00 10.00

ROM 100 19.12 7.15 10150

Sun Energy Group Plant Data

Separation versus Particle Size (Ref:Honaker)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8

Relative Particle Density

Pro

babi

lity

to P

rodu

ct (%

)

Overall2 x 1 in.1 x 1/2 in.1/2 x 1/4 in.-1/4 in.

>85%Rock

Rejection

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8

Relative Particle Density

Pro

babi

lity

to P

rodu

ct (%

)

Overall2 x 1 in.1 x 1/2 in.1/2 x 1/4 in.-1/4 in.

>85%Rock

Rejection

Particles smaller than 6mm require different operatingconditions.

Cut point density ~ 1.9; Ep = 0.17

Dry Coal Cleaning Scheme

Rock

Dry Coal Cleaner

Coal Operation

Loading

Screening

Market

+6mmProduc

t-6mm Feed

Dry Coal Cleaner

Accelerator

Economic Benefit

• Unit capacity = 500 tph

•Yield to reject = 36.4%

•Reject Amount = 500 x 0.364 = 182 tph

• Annual Operating Hours =5000 hrs/yr

•Total reject left at mine= 182 tph x 5000 hrs/yr = 910,000 tons

•Transportation cost = $0.50/t mile

•Mine-to-plant distance = 20 miles

•Transportation cost/ton = $10.00/ton• Annual transportation savings = 910,000 x $10

= $ 9,100,000

Summary Economic Benefit

• FGX operating cost = $1.50/ton

• Annual operating cost = $1.50 x 500 x 5000 = $ 3,750,000/yr

• Summary Transportation savings = $ 9.10 M Operating cost = $ 3.75 M ___________

Net profit gain = $ 5.35 M

Commercial Dry Table Separators• Over 1000 installations of

dry-air table separators worldwide.– Brazil– China– Mongolia– South Africa– South Korea– India– USA

• Table capacity = 10 to 250 TPH

• Plus 6 mm material• Less than 10% surface

moisture

Illinois FGX Separator Installation250 TPH capacity

Applications

Steam coal deshaling;Pit cleaning/rib coal recovery;Gob pile processing;Deshaling of metallurgical coal;Dry separation of high sulfur coal;High wall mining coal on-site processing;Coal prep in regions with water scarcity;Processing of low-rank coal, e.g. lignite;De-stoning of coal in utilities and cement plants.

Easy to install;Easy to operate;Low maintenance;

Commercial installation from 10 to 480 tph on a single unit; Over 1,000 clients in China; Sold in more than a dozen of countries worldwide: China, Indonesia,

Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, The Philippines, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Brazil, Colombia, India,Vietnam, etc.

THANK YOU

ANY QUESTIONS?