Fuel 85 (2006) 18661870

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Performance of classic oils and lubricating oils in froth flotation

of Ukraine coal
Ibrahim Sonmez a,*, Yakup Cebeci b
a

Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey
b
Mining Engineering Department, Cumhuriyet University, 58140 Sivas, Turkey
Received 20 June 2005; received in revised form 20 January 2006; accepted 26 January 2006
Available online 28 February 2006

Abstract
In this study, the appropriate collector and collector amount for Ukraine coal in froth flotation was determined. For this purpose, the
performance of classic oils (kerosene, diesel-oil and fuel-oil) and lubricating oils (spindle oil, bright stock and heavy neutral) was evaluated by
combustible recovery, ash rejection and efficiency index. It was found that the combustible recovery and ash rejection changed, depending on the
type and concentration of oil. The maximum combustible recovery was obtained by using bright stock. It was determined that bright stock, fuel-oil
and kerosene were suitable for the flotation of Ukraine coal. On considering the flotation efficiency index values, the best results were obtained
with bright stock and diesel-oil. Consequently, it was shown that bright stock and spindle oil could be used as alternative oils instead of classic oils
for cleaning of Ukraine coal by the froth flotation.
q 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Froth flotation; Lubricating oils; Coal

1. Introduction
Both modern mining methods and cleaning processes
increase the quantity of raw fine coal particle [13]. Coal
preparation or cleaning is the process of removing noncombustible mineral matter from the run-of-mine coal [47].
Conventional coal beneficiation techniques (such as heavy
media separation, shaking tables, washing cyclones) are poor
for fine coal processing. Studies have shown the use of froth
flotation as an efficient fine particle processing methodology
[2,6,8]. But, coal flotation is a complex process involving
several phases (particle, oil droplets, water and air bubbles).
Water-insoluble hydrocarbons are widely used as collectors
to increase the affinity of coal particles towards the air bubbles.
These collectors are basically non-polar oils such as kerosene,
crude petroleum, fuel-oil and certain coal-tar distillates [912].
Generally, the collectors disperse into droplets in the pulp and
these droplets collide with, adhere to and spread on the coal
particles to render them more hydrophobic [13]. In literature,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: C90 346 219 1010/2235; fax: C90 346 219 11
73.
E-mail address: isonmez@cumhuriyet.edu.tr (I. Sonmez).

0016-2361/$ - see front matter q 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2006.01.021

it was observed that the effectiveness of saturated hydrocarbons in coal flotation was a function of the hydrocarbon
chain size [14]. It was also shown that the heavier
hydrocarbons suffer being of from higher viscosity, leading
to a decrease in their spreading ability, whereas the lighter
hydrocarbons were lost in the pores of the coal structure by
excessive spreading due to their low viscosity [13].
Wettability characteristics of minerals have substantial
influence over the efficiency of beneficiation and processing
methods such as agglomeration, aggregation, flotation, dust
controlling and solidliquid separation [15,16]. The solid or
mineral surface is completely wetted by the liquid if the surface
tension of liquid is equal to or below from the critical surface
tension of wetting value of solid or mineral surface.
The principles of froth flotation of different coals have been
investigated by various studies [3,4,811,13,14]. However,
there are limited studies on flotation of coals with classic oils as
collector [14,1721], and also there is no study on coal flotation
with lubricating oils as collector. Main aim of this study is to
increase the number of oils for coal flotation. For this purpose,
the usage of lubricating oils instead of classic oils (kerosene,
diesel-oil, fuel-oil, etc.) was investigated.
In this study, coal sample was floated with classic oils
(kerosene, diesel-oil and fuel-oil) and lubricating oils (spindle
oil, bright stock and heavy neutral) used as collector and pineoil used as frother. The response of Ukraine coal to flotation

I. Sonmez, Y. Cebeci / Fuel 85 (2006) 18661870

Table 1
Proximate analyses results of the coal sample

1867

Table 2
Some physical properties of the collectors

Components

Dry basis

Ash (wt%)
Volatile matter (wt%)
Fixed carbon (wt%)
Calorific value (kcal kgK1)
Net
Gross

4.02
16.80
79.18
7963
8241

with these oils was evaluated by combustible recovery, ash

rejection and efficiency index. The influence of oil concentration on the results is interpreted here.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Material
The coal sample was obtained from Sivas Coal Office
(imported from Ukraine). The total sulphur content was 0.29%.
The result of proximate analysis of the sample is given in
Table 1. The coal sample was ground to a nominal top size of
K500 mm in a rod mill for flotation tests. The particle size
distribution of the ground sample was determined by wet
screening and obtained results are given in Fig. 1.
2.2. Chemicals
In the experiments, classic oils (kerosene, diesel-oil and
fuel-oil) and lubricating oils (spindle oil, heavy neutral and
bright stock) obtained from Tupras (Turkish Petroleum
Refineries Corporation) Aliaga Petroleum Refinery were used
as the collector. All the oils were paraffinic hydrocarbon oils
and commercial product of the petroleum refinery. The
lubricating oils contain a mixture of hydrocarbons (between
C18 and C25) and a small amount (!1%) of wax and aromatic
compounds depending on the oil type [22]. Some properties of
the liquids used in the study are shown in Table 2. Pine-oil was
used as the frother in the experiments. The surface tensions of
the oils were determined by the drop weight method.

Oil

Density
(kg mK3 at 20 8C)

Viscosity
(mPa s at 38 8C)

Surface tension
(mN mK1)

Kerosene
Diesel-oil
Fuel-oil
Spindle oil
Heavy neutral
Bright stock

780
840
940
880
850
830

1.17
2.22
35.77
19.19
93.27
503.02

25.97
27.45
28.61
31.41
32.90
40.05

2.3. Method
The experiments were performed in a Denver laboratory
flotation machine. The cell has a value of approximately
1500 ml and 50 g sampleC950 ml water was used in every test.
Mains water (pH|7.46) which contained CaCC(116.75 mg lK1),
MgCC(12.52 mg lK1), NaC(4.69 mg lK1) and KC(0.28 mg lK1) was
used in the experiments. The pH of coal suspension was about
7.93. Solids concentration, stirring speed and air flow rate into
flotation cell were kept constant at 5 wt%, 1000 rev minK1 and
6 l minK1, respectively. In each flotation tests, the mixture of
coalwater was first conditioned in the flotation cell for 3 min,
after which the collector was added and the suspension was
conditioned for 3 min (collector stirring time). The frother
(pine-oil: 100 g tK1) was then added and the pulp was
conditioned for an additional 3 min. After collecting the
flotation product for 3 min, the froth concentrates were dried
(in an oven at 105 8C), weighed and taken for ash
determination. The ash contents of the concentrates were
determined (wt% on dry basis) and then, combustible recovery,
ash rejection and efficiency index were calculated from Eqs.
(1)(3), respectively.


Mc 100KAc
Combustible recovery CR Z
!100
(1)
Mf 100KAf


M c Ac
!100
Ash rejection AR Z 1K
M f Af

(2)

where Ac, ash content of clean coal; Af, ash content of feed; Mc,
mass of clean coal; Mf, mass of feed.
Efficiency index Z CR C ARK100

(3)

where CR and AR are the combustible recovery and ash

rejection, respectively.

3. Results and discussion

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of the ground sample.

It was reported in the literature that role of the oil in froth

flotation was due to wetting of the coal surface and to act as a
collector [5,7]. The collector concentration was based on the
mass ratio of oil to dry feed coal. Figs. 2 and 3 shows the effects
of classic oils (kerosene, diesel-oil and fuel-oil) and lubricating
oils (spindle oil, bright stock and heavy neutral) concentration
on combustible recovery and ash rejection from the feed coal,
respectively.

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I. Sonmez, Y. Cebeci / Fuel 85 (2006) 18661870

As can be seen in Fig. 2, the minimum combustible recovery

from the feed coal was obtained without using collector (oil) as
42.21%. Combustible recoveries increase as the oil concentration increased. Therefore, oil concentration had a significant
effect on the recovery of combustible material from the feed
coal. Thus, as the oil amount increased from 500 to 3000 g tK1,
the combustible recovery increased from 68.89 to 90.07%,
47.66 to 81.49% and 57.22 to 93.27% for kerosene, diesel-oil
and fuel-oil, respectively. For lubricating oils, as the oil amount
increased from 500 to 3000 g tK1, the combustible recovery
increased from 64.49 to 88.74%, 84.21 to 96.37% and 53.41 to
80.54% for spindle oil, bright stock and heavy neutral,
respectively. The maximum combustible recoveries were
achieved at classic oil and lubricating oil amounts of
3000 g tK1 except bright stock. Furthermore, the maximum
combustible recovery from the feed coal was obtained at a
bright stock amount of 2000 g tK1, there was no change above
this amount. For oils tested, at low oil amounts, the
combustible recoveries were low due to the insufficient wetting
of coal particles by the oils.
Fig. 3 shows that the maximum ash rejection from the feed
coal was obtained without using collector (oil) as 71.93%.
Unlike combustible recovery, ash rejection from the feed coal
tends to decrease with increasing oil amount up to 3000 g tK1.

At low oil dosages, the amount of oil was insufficient to adsorb

on to all coal particles present and, therefore, there is
competition for oil wetting among the different types of
particles. As a result, only the highest hydrophobic particles,
that have certain relatively low levels of mineral matter, are be
floated. Hence, higher ash rejections are achieved. If oil dosage
is increased, the number of oil droplets available for adsorption
on particles to form hydrophobic surfaces increases, as does the
flotation of coal particles with much higher proportions of
mineral matter. The decrease in ash rejection with increasing
oil amount depends on oil type.
The aim of any process used for evaluation feed coals is to
achieve maximum ash rejection with virtually quantitative
recovery of combustible material. However, the necessity to
grind the feed coal to extreme fineness so as to totally liberate
mineral matter from coal and pure mineral matter, as well as
the efficiency of the process used for that particle size make this
objective unattainable [23,24]. In practice, greater combustible
recovery is obtained at the expense of ash rejection. Therefore,
both combustible recovery and ash rejection must be taken into
account to evaluate the overall efficiency of the flotation
process.
The relationship between flotation efficiency index (EI) and
collector (oil) amount is shown in Fig. 4.
As seen in Fig. 4, the efficiency index increased with
increasing collector amount. However, the efficiency index by
using kerosene, fuel-oil and heavy neutral decreased after
2000 g tK1 of collector amount. The highest EI of 25.65% was
achieved with diesel-oil amount of 3000 g tK1. Although, high
combustible recoveries were obtained by using kerosene and
fuel-oil, the EI values were very low. This situation was due to
the high ash contents of the floated product. The lowest ash
content of the floated products produced with using diesel-oil
as 2.8 wt% at 3000 g tK1 of diesel-oil amount. In the froth
flotation process, the efficiency index values can be used for
comparing both, the performance of collectors and the effects
of collector amounts for used collectors. These findings
showed that the EI value was used as a quality determining
parameter for froth flotation process.

Fig. 3. Effect of collector (oil) amount on ash rejection.

Fig. 4. Effect of collector (oil) amount on efficiency index.

Fig. 2. Effect of collector (oil) amount on combustible recovery.

I. Sonmez, Y. Cebeci / Fuel 85 (2006) 18661870

High combustible recoveries obtained by using kerosene

and fuel-oil were based on easy dispersion and the increase of
the oil coating on the coal particles with kerosene is because of
low viscosity and low surface tension. The reason for this
situation for fuel-oil was based on the increase of wetting/adsorption ability of fuel-oil on coal surface due to the existence
of relatively more abundant polar groups, although fuel-oil had
high viscosity and relatively high surface tension. The ash
rejection percentages by using kerosene and fuel-oil were
lower than that of diesel-oil. This situation was attributed to the
adsorption of kerosene and fuel-oil because of presence of
polar groups in their structure on the ash-forming mineral
matter. It was reported in the literature that the oils (kerosene,
diesel-oil and fuel-oil) had substances containing polar groups
with undetermined structure (amines, resins, asphaltenes, etc.),
which were relatively more abundant in fuel-oil [17,2426].
Low combustible recovery was obtained with diesel-oil among
the collector amount investigated. This phenomenon was based
on that the diesel-oil had high viscosity in comparison to the
kerosene and was not dispersed sufficiently well in the slurry
and could not wet the coal particles. The ash rejection obtained
by using diesel-oil was higher than those obtained by using
kerosene and fuel-oil. This can be attributed to lower amount of
ash-forming mineral matter according to the feed coal in the
floated product, although the ash contents of the floated
products were high due to lower recovery of combustible
material.
Low combustible recoveries were obtained by using heavy
neutral among the lubricating oils. The viscosity and the
surface tension of heavy neutral are higher than those of
spindle oil. As a result of high viscosity and high surface
tension, the coal particles cannot be wetted sufficiently by
heavy neutral. Therefore, the low combustible recoveries were
obtained by using heavy neutral. The ash rejection percentages
obtained by using heavy neutral were higher than those for
spindle oil and bright stock. This can be attributed to the
highest hydrophobic particles from the feed coal. As a result,
high amount of feed coal cannot be floated and, therefore, high
ash rejection percentages are obtained.
The combustible recoveries obtained by using spindle oil
were higher than those obtained with heavy neutral. This is due
to the easy dispersion of spindle oil and the increase of oil
wetting degree on the coal particles because of low viscosity
and low surface tension in comparison to that of heavy neutral.
The ash rejection percentages obtained by using spindle oil
were lower than those with heavy neutral. This can be
attributed to the low surface tension and the high content of
aromatic compounds in spindle oil. Aromatic compounds have
greater affinity for ash-forming mineral matter [27]. It was
reported that aromatic compounds also decrease the interfacial
tension between water and oils [27,28]. In fact, the floated
products with high ash contents were obtained with the
lubricating oils. It was reported that the floated product with
high ash contents were obtained as the aromaticity of oil
increased [28].
The highest combustible recoveries obtained from bright
stock were higher than those with the other collectors among

1869

the oil amounts tested. The ash rejection percentages were also
lower than those obtained from the other collectors. This can be
attributed to the non-selective adsorption of bright stock on the
organic materials and the ash forming mineral matters because
of polar groups [24].
4. Conclusions
The conclusions obtained from this study are as follows:
In the present study, the froth product was obtained with the
lowest ash content obtained by using without any collector as
2.7 wt%.
Maximum combustible recoveries were achieved at
3000 g tK1 of classic oils and lubricating oils amount except
bright stock. By using bright stock, the optimum concentration
was obtained as 2000 g tK1. Although, high combustible
recoveries were obtained by using kerosene, fuel-oil and bright
stock, the ash rejection percentages were very low due to high
ash content of the floated products.
As the flotation efficiency index values were considered, the
best results were obtained with bright stock and diesel-oil
depending on collector concentration.
Bright stock and spindle oil that are used as lubricating oils
can be used as alternative oils instead of classic oils (kerosene
and fuel-oil) for the flotation of Ukraine coal.
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