The effect of particle size on the flotation kinetics of raw and waste coal

This paper investigates the effect of particle size on the flotation kinetics parameters of raw and waste fine coal from anthracite mine "Vrška Čuka, Serbia. Based on batch flotation test data of coal, non-linear fitting was conducted by using MatLab for modeling first order flotation kinetics. The cumulative combustible recovery against flotation time were correlated using the Classical model. The coefficient of determination (r2) values of the proposed model were from 0.9904 to 0.9998 for raw coal and from 0.9555 to 0.9980 for waste coal. The maximum values of the flotation rate constant (k) for both coals were obtained for the particle size fractions (-0.1+0.053) mm. The relation between flotation kinetics constant (k) with particle size (d sr) was estimated through equations presented in the paper (Eq. 3 and 4).