hittite j sci eng Hittite Journal of Science and Engineering 2148-4171 Hitit University 10.17350/HJSE19030000097 Characterization of Flocs in Dewatering of Coal Plant Tailings Gungoren Can İstanbul University, Department of Mining Engineering, İstanbul, Turkey Baktarhan Yasin İstanbul University, Department of Mining Engineering, İstanbul, Turkey Kursun Ilgin İstanbul University, Department of Mining Engineering, İstanbul, Turkey Ozkan Safak G. İstanbul University, Department of Mining Engineering, İstanbul, Turkey Ozdemir Orhan İstanbul University, Department of Mining Engineering, İstanbul, Turkey 09 30 2018 5 3 215 218 Copyright © 2014, Hittite Journal of Science and Engineering 2014 Hittite Journal of Science and Engineering

Flocculation is a widely used method for dewatering fine coal tailings. Flocs must resist to the shear stresses during the following processes such as flotation, cyclone separation, and pumping. Therefore, the strength of the flocs must be considered during flocculation. In this study, the fine coal tailings were dewatered with an anionic flocculant SNF-923 at various dosages, and the floc size of the coal tailings was characterized using a laser diffraction particle size analyzer with respect to time in order to determine the change in the floc size and hence the floc strength. The results of this study clearly indicated that the determination of the floc size with a laser particle size analyzer could be a simple and good method to observe the flocculation efficiency in terms of the floc strength.

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