Recent Developments in the Technology and Equipment for Coal Beneficiation

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 September 2025) | Viewed by 877

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Interests: coal preparation; particle–bubble interaction; coal tailing water treatment
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Guest Editor
Chinese National Engineering Research Center of Coal Preparation and Purification, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: froth flotaion; coal–collector interaction; bubble–particle interaction
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Guest Editor
College of Mining Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
Interests: coal preparation; physical separation; multiphase flow

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Guest Editor
Department of Mining & Explosives Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, McNutt Hall, Rolla, MO 65409, USA
Interests: flotation; ultra-fine particle processing; surface chemistry; coal preparation; modelling; artificial intelligent; image analysis, nano-bubbles
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coal is an energy resource of great abundance. Coal, an organic sedimentary rock, is upgraded in coal beneficiation unit operations, which reduce its content of impurities. Coal beneficiation includes physical processes that upgrade the quality of coal by regulating its size and reducing the content of mineral matter (expressed as ash, sulfur, etc.). The major unit operations are classification (screening), cleaning (washing, beneficiation), crushing and solid/liquid separation which also includes dewatering by drying. While gravity concentration (dense-medium baths, jigs, dense-medium cyclones, etc.) is the dominant cleaning method for coarse and intermediate coal size fractions, flotation is the dominant cleaning method for fine-size fractions. This Special Issue aims to contribute to the disclosure of recent developments in the technology and equipment for coal beneficiation.

Prof. Dr. Zhijun Zhang
Dr. Yinfei Liao
Dr. Guichuan Ye 
Dr. Fardis Nakhaei
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • coal beneficiation
  • coal preparation
  • flotation
  • gravity separation
  • classification
  • dewatering

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 5130 KB  
Article
Study on the Drying Characteristics of Moist Fine Lignite in a Dense Gas–Solid Separation Fluidized Bed
by Huicheng Lei, Tengfeng Wan, Tingguan Chen, Bingbing Ma, Zongxu Yao, Bao Xu, Qingfei Wang and Xuan Xu
Minerals 2025, 15(10), 1039; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15101039 - 30 Sep 2025
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Abstract
Coal serves as a cornerstone and stabilizer for China’s energy security; utilizing it in a clean and efficient manner aligns with the current national energy situation. The moisture content of coal is a crucial factor affecting its calorific value and separation efficiency. Therefore, [...] Read more.
Coal serves as a cornerstone and stabilizer for China’s energy security; utilizing it in a clean and efficient manner aligns with the current national energy situation. The moisture content of coal is a crucial factor affecting its calorific value and separation efficiency. Therefore, enhancing the drying rate while simultaneously reducing the moisture content in coal is essential to improve separation efficiency. This paper primarily investigates the drying and separation characteristics of wet fine coal particles within a gas–solid fluidized bed system. A hot gas–solid fluidized bed was employed to study the particle fluidization behavior, heat–mass transfer, and agglomeration drying properties under varying airflow temperatures. The results indicate that as the airflow temperature increases, the minimum fluidization velocity tends to decrease. Additionally, with an increase in bed height, the particle temperature correspondingly decreases, leading to weakened heat exchange capability in the upper layer of the bed. Faster heating rates facilitate rapid moisture removal while minimizing agglomeration formation. The lower the proportion of moisture and magnetite powder present, the less force is required to break apart particle agglomerates. The coal drying process exhibits distinct stages. Within a temperature range of 75 °C to 100 °C, there is a significant enhancement in drying rate, while issues such as particle fragmentation or pore structure collapse are avoided at elevated temperatures. This research aims to provide foundational insights into effective drying processes for wet coal particles in gas–solid fluidized beds. Full article
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