Production of premium fuels from coal refuse pond material

Because of increasing production of fine coal during mining over the past century and because of inefficient fine-coal recovery technologies, a vast reserve of high-quality coal now exists in refuse ponds. A novel fine-coal circuit, consisting of a hindered-bed classifier, an enhanced gravity concentrator and a flotation column, was evaluated for the recovery of fine coal from refuse ponds. The treatment of a pond derived from Pittsburgh No. 8 seam coal resulted in the production of a premium fuel containing less than 5% ash and a calorific value of about 30,170 kJ/kg with 60% mass yield. Results from the treatment of two refuse pond materials are presented in this paper.