ABSTRACT
Oil agglomeration is a process based on the differences in the surface properties of the organic and inorganic constituents of coal. A bituminous coal was agglomerated using kerosene, diesel oil and Kirkuk Crude Petroleum. Heavy media separations of the coal were conducted to compare with the results found from the agglomeration tests. Factors affecting the agglomeration performance such as the amount of bridging oil and washing water, type of bridging oil, solid content of the slurry and finer particles were determined Relationship between agglomerate sizes and their ash contents was also determined. Higher recovery values (> 95%) were obtained from the agglomeration tests. Increase in finer particle portion in the bulk solids adversely affected the grade values of the final product.
