Synergistic effects of dodecane-castor oil acid mixture on the flotation responses of low-rank coal:A combined simulation and experimental study

The utilization of an appropriate collector or surfactant is crucial for the beneficiation of low-rank coal.However,in previous studies,the selection of surfactants was primarily based on flotation procedures,which hinders the understanding of the interaction mechanism between surfactant groups and oxygen-containing functional groups at the surface of low-rank coal.In this study,we investigate the flotation of low-rank coal in the presence of a composite collector by using a combined theoretical and experimental approach.The maximum flotation mass recovery achieved was 82.89%using a 3:1 mixture of dodecane and castor oil acid.Fourier-transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analyses showed that castor oil acid was effectively adsorbed onto the surface of low-rank coal,enhancing the hydrophobicity of the coal.In addition,the diffusion coefficient of water molecules in the water-composite collector-coal system was greater than that in the dodecane system.Moreover,due to the presence of castor oil acid in the flotation process,the adsorption distance of dodecane and low-rank coal became shorter.Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the diffusion and interaction of surfactant molecules at the interface of low-rank coal particles and water was enhanced because the adsorption of the dodecane-castor oil acid mixture is primarily controlled by hydrogen bonds and electrostatic attraction.Based on these results,a better surfactant for flotation of low-rank coal is also proposed.

Preparation of fructone catalyzed by water-soluble Brφnsted acid ionic liquids

Fructone （2-methyl-2-ethylacetoacetate-1, 3-dioxolane）, a flavouring material, has been synthesized from ethyl acetoacetate and glycol using five water-soluble Brφnsted acid ionic liquids as catalysts for the first time. The used Brφnsted acid ionic liquids include [Hmim]Tfa, [Hmim]Tsa, [Hmim]BF4, [Bmim]HSO4, [Bmim]H2P04, and [Hmim]BF4 showed the highest catalytic activity for the preparation of fructone. After reaction, the product could be isolated from the reaction system automatically, and the ionic liquid could be directly reused without dehydration.

Bioleaching of vanadium from stone coal vanadium ore by Bacillus mucilaginosus:Influencing factors and mechanism

Vanadium and its derivatives are used in various industries,including steel,metallurgy,pharmaceuticals,and aerospace engineering.Although China has massive reserves of stone coal resources,these resources have low grades.Therefore,the effective extraction and recovery of metallic vanadium from stone coal is an important way to realize the efficient resource utilization of stone coal vanadium ore.Herein,Bacillus mucilaginosus was selected as the leaching strain.The vanadium leaching rate reached 35.5%after 20 d of bioleaching under optimal operating conditions.The cumulative vanadium leaching rate in the contact group reached 35.5%,which was higher than that in the noncontact group(9.3%).The metabolites of B.mucilaginosus,such as oxalic,tartaric,citric,and malic acids,dominated in bioleaching,accounting for 73.8%of the vanadium leaching rate.Interestingly,during leaching,the presence of stone coal stimulated the expression of carbonic anhydrase in bacterial cells,and enzyme activity increased by 1.335-1.905 U.Enzyme activity positively promoted the production of metabolite organic acids,and total organic acid content increased by 39.31 mg·L^(-1),resulting in a reduction of 2.51 in the pH of the leaching system with stone coal.This effect favored the leaching of vanadium from stone coal.Atomic force microscopy illustrated that bacterial leaching exacerbated corrosion on the surface of stone coal beyond 10 nm.Our study provides a clear and promising strategy for exploring the bioleaching mechanism from the perspective of microbial enzyme activity and metabolites.

Application of Water-Soluble Polymer in Dewatering of Fine Coal

The addition of water-soluble polymer to a fine coal slurry to enhance dewatering process is considered to be one of the most effective ways of solving the problems of dewatering of fine coal. A series of tests are conducted with a vacuum dewatering apparatus to study the effects of various factors such as the species of polymer, polymer dosage and its ways of addition, and the pH of fine coal slurry on filtrating and dewatering of fine coal.

Favorable and unfavorable amino acid residues in water-soluble and transmembrane proteins

We analyzed the amino acid residues present in the water-soluble and transmembrane proteins of 6 thermophilic and 6 mesophilic species of the domains Archaea and Eubacteria, and characterized them as favorable or unfavorable. The characterization was performed by comparing the observed number of each amino acid residue to the expected number calculated from the percentage of nucleotides present in each gene. Amino acids that were more or less abundant than expected were considered as favorable or unfavorable, respectively. Comparisons of amino acid compositions indicated that the water-soluble proteins were rich in charged residues such as Glu, Asp, Lys, and His, whereas hydrophobic residues such as Trp, Phe, and Leu were abundant in transmembrane proteins. Interestingly, our results found that although the Trp residue was abundant in transmembrane proteins, it was not defined as favorable by our calculations, indicating that increased numbers of a particular amino acid does not necessary indicate it is a favorable residue. Amino acids with high G + C content such as Ala, Gly, and Pro were frequently observed as favorable in species with low G + C content. Comparatively, amino acids with low G + C content such as Phe, Tyr, Lys, Ile, and Met were frequently observed as favorable in species with high G + C content. These are the examples to increase the supply of amino acids than expected. Amino acids with neutral G + C content, i.e., Glu and Asp were favorable in water-soluble proteins from all species analyzed, and Cys was unfavorable both in water-soluble and transmembrane proteins. These results indicate that amino acid compositions are essentially determined by the nucleotide sequence of the genes, and the amino acid content is altered by a deviation from expectation.

Leaching of vanadium from stone coal with sulfuric acid

The effects of roasting, mass ratio of H2SO4 to stone coal, leaching temperature, liquid-to-solid ratio, grinding fineness of stone coal, and two-stage counter-current leaching on the vanadium leaching ratio were studied. The results show that the vanadium leaching ratio of roasted stone coal through two-stage counter-current leaching can reach 65.1% at the mass ratio of H2SO4 to stone coal of 20%, leaching temperature of 95℃, leaching time of 30 h, liquid-to-solid ratio of 1.1 mL·g^-1, and grinding fineness of 0.1 mm, which can serve as an experimental basis for the production of vanadium from stone coal.

Acid leaching of vanadium from roasted residue of stone coal

Through leaching from residue directly and leaching after a roasting treatment,respectively,the experimental research on sulfuric leaching of vanadium from residue of stone coal that came from power generation was conducted.Factors which influence the leaching of vanadium such as concentration of sulfuric acid,leaching temperature,leaching time and liquid-to-solid ratio were investigated in both processes.In the process of direct leaching,to achieve a leaching rate of 74.49%,H2SO4 concentration of up to 5.4%,leaching temperature of 90℃and leaching time of 8 h were necessary reaction factors.The results show that after a roasting treatment at the optimum condition of 950℃at 1 h,76.88%vanadium can be leached under the experimental condition of 0.45% of H2SO4,30℃for 1 h with a liquid-to-solid ratio of 2 mL/g.Leaching after an oxidation roasting treatment is an efficient way to leach vanadium from the residue of stone coal,which has some advantages,such as high recovery,low economic cost and less impurities in leaching solution.

Preparation of nitric humic acid by catalytic oxidation from Guizhou coal with catalysts

Nitric humic acid was prepared by catalytic oxidation between nitric acid and Guizhou coal, with added catalysts. We investigated catalytic oxidation processes and the factors that affect the reactions. The effects of different catalysts, including NiSO4 support on active carbon （AC-NiS04）, NiS04 support on sil- icon dioxide （SiO2-NiSO4）, composites of SO42-1Fe203, Zr-iron and vanadium-iron composite were stud- ied. As well, we investigated nitric humic acid yields and the chemical structure of products by element analysis, FT-IR and E4/E6 （an absorbance ratio at wavelengths of 465 and 665 nm of humic acid alkaline extraction solutions）. The results show that the catalytic oxidation reaction with added catalysts can increase humic acid yields by 18.7%, 16.36% 12.94%, 5.61% and 8.59%, respectively. The highest yield of humic acid, i.e., 36.0%, was obtained with AC-NiSO4 as the catalyst. The amounts of C and H decreased with the amount of nitrogen. The increase in the E4/E6 ratio in catalytic oxidation of （Guizhou） coal shows that small molecular weights and high yields of nitric humic acid can be obtained by catalytic oxidation reactions.

Effects of organic acids on dissolution of Fe and Mn from weathering coal gangue

Understanding the effects of organic acids （OA） on the transformation of Fe and Mn to surface water from the weathering coal gangue is of great benefit to risk assessment and remediation strategies for contaminated water and soil. Based on the investigation on surface water in the central coal districts of the Guizhou Province, 18 water samples were collected for heavy metal analysis. The results indicated that the pH value of surface water is low （3.11-4.92）, and Fe concentration （1.31-5.55 mg L-1） and Mn concentration （1.90-5.71 mg L^-1） were, on average, 10.86 and 34.33 times the limit of Surface Water Quality Standards, respectively. In order to evaluate the effects of the OA on the dissolution of Fe and Mn from the weath- ering coal gangue, column elution and batch leaching experiments were conducted. The results show that the low molecular weight of organic acids （LMWOAs, i.e., oxalic, tartaric, malic and citric acids） and fulvic acids signifi- cantly accelerated the dissolution of Fe and Mn; in addi- tion, when the concentration of OA reached 25 mmol L-1, the concentrations of Fe, and Mn were 1.14-67.08 and 1.11-2.32 times as high as those in 0.5 mmol L-1OA, respectively. Furthermore, the migration of Fe and Mn was significantly influenced by the pH and Eh, especially for Fe; the ion Mn was dissolved from the gangue more easily than the ion Fe in the column leaching, which was contrary to the results of batch leaching.

Mechanism of oxidation of low rank coal by nitric acid

The pretreatment of low rank coal with nitric acid oxidation can promote its bio-liquefaction. However, the detailed mechanism of which remains an unresolved problem. In the present work, the characteristics of Fushun coal before and after oxidation by nitric acid were investigated combined with elemental composition, pore volume and pore size, Zeta potential, FT-IR, and 13C solid NMR spectrum analysis. The results show that the inorganic substance inlaid in coal are dissolved by ni- tric acid, which results in the decrease of coal ash content and increase of pore volume and pore size. Furthermore, there exist obvious chemical reactions between nitric acid and the functional groups of coal including aromatic ring carboxylation, side chain alkyl of aromatic ring oxidation and aromatic ring nitration. Among these reactions, some led to the increase in content of carboxyl, aliphatic carbon connected with O and humic acid carbon, while others caused the reduction of aromaticity, methyl carbon, substituted aryl carbon and side chain.

Effect of loess for preventing contamination of acid mine drainage from coal waste

Acid mine drainage （AMD） that releases highly acidic, sulfate and metals-rich drainage is a serious environmental problem in coal mining areas in China. In order to study the effect of using loess for preventing AMD and controlling heavy metals contamination from coal waste, the column leaching tests were conducted. The results come from experiment data analyses show that the loess can effectively immobilize cadmium, copper, iron, lead and zinc in AMD from coal waste, increase pH value, and decrease Eh, EC, and 8024- concentrations of AMD from coal waste. The oxidation of sulfide in coal waste is prevented by addition of the loess, which favors the generation and adsorption of the alkalinity, the decrease of the population of Thiobacillusferrooxidans, the heavy metals immobilization by precipitation of sulfide and carbonate through biological sul- fate reduction inside the column, and the halt of the oxidation process of sulfide through iron coating on the surface of sulfide in coal waste. The loess can effectively prevent AMD and heavy metals contamination from coal waste in in-situ treatment systems.

Coal-derived humic acid for application in acid mine drainage(AMD)water treatment and electrochemical devices

In this research work,isolation of humic acid from coal of Northeastern region of India is reported.The study is also targeted for application of the coal-derived humic acid in acid mine drainage(AMD)water treatment and electrochemical devices.All the obtained results are compared with the standard humic acid and examined the formation of humic acid from the coal.The isolated coal-derived humic acid is found to be high degree of humifications and relatively stable up to about 200℃.The FTIR study indicates the formation of metal-humic acid complexes.On treatment with acidic water(AMD),the coal-derived humic acid was found to have the ability to remove toxic metal such as(in order)Pb>Cu>Zn>Cd.In addition,the preliminary electrochemical properties of the isolated humic acid are also discussed in the paper.The specific capacitance of the isolated coal-derived humic acid via cyclic voltammetry and charge-discharge analysis is found to be 7 mF/g at scan rate 10 mV/s and 22 mF/g within the potential window 0.4 V,respectively.The charge-discharge cycles are stable for more than 1000 cycles within the potential window 0.4 V.This study will create a new pathway for the further research in this field.

Effects of acid drainage from abandoned coal mines on the microbial community of Shandi River sediment,Shanxi Province

The discharge of acid mine drainage from abandoned high sulfur(S)coal mines has caused serious pollution in the Shandi River,Yangquan,Shanxi Province.To determine the impact of long-term acid mine drainage on the microorganisms in the river,we collected river sediments from a polluted tributary(Group P)and the mainstream of Shandi River(Group R)to study the bacterial diversity and community composition.The results showed that the tributary was seriously polluted by acid drainage from abandoned coal mines,with the pH value of the sediment being<2.5,resulting in the low bacterial richness and diversity of the tributary samples.Acidophillic Fe-and S-metabolizing bacteria,such as Metallibacterium,Acidiphilium,and Acidithiobacillus,were the dominant genera in Group P samples,while the Group R was dominated by the neutral anaerobic iron-reducing bacteria Geothrix and Geobacter.Results of principal co-ordinates analysis(PCoA)revealed that the bacterial communities are significantly different between groups P and R,and the significant different species were mainly attributed to phylum Proteobacteria,Actinobacteria,and Acidobacteria.The distribution of the microbial community is mainly influenced by pH,and the Fe and Cd concentrations.Metallicactrium,the dominant genus,is negatively correlated with pH(R^(2)=-0.95)and positively correlated with Fe(R^(2)=0.99),while Geothrix and Geobacter,are mainly affected by the heavy metals.This study determined the impact of river pollution caused by abandoned coal mine drainage,especially on the microbial diversity and community composition within the river sediment.

Extracting vanadium from stone-coal by oxygen pressure acid leaching and solvent extraction

Vanadium extraction from stone-coal was investigated by oxygen pressure acid leaching and solvent extraction.The mineralogy of the stone-coal from Tongren City of Guizhou Province,China,was investigated by various determination methods. The effects of leaching time,leaching temperature,leaching agent concentration,leaching L/S ratio,granularity of material,additive consumption were investigated based on the mineralogy.The results show that under the conditions of leaching time of 3-4 h, temperature of 150℃,sulfuric acid consumption of 25%?30%,ratio of liquid to solid of 1.2:1,the granularity less than 0.074 mm, additive consumption of 3%-5%,and oxygen pressure of 1.2 MPa,and the vanadium leaching rate can be more than 92%by the method of two-step pressurized acid leaching.The powdery V2O5 product with 99.52%in V2O5 content is obtained by the flowsheet of acid recovery,removing iron by reduction process,solvent extraction,precipitating vanadium with ammonium water,and pyrolysis from the stone-coal oxygen pressure acid-leaching solution.The total recovery efficiency of vanadium is above 85%,which is more than 20%higher than that obtained in the conventional process.Furthermore,the new process does not cause air pollution since no HCl or Cl2 is released by calcination of the raw material.

Acid-base buffer effect of fulvic acid and barium fulvate from weathered coal

The acid-base buffer characteristics of fulvic acid (FA) and barium fulvate (BaFA)were analyzed. Each share of the sample or model agents (phthalic acid and salicylic acid)were separately mixed into a series of shares of dilute solutions of HCI or NaOH with a series of concentration. The original pH values of the solutions were arranged from 2 to 13.Final balanced pH of each share was measured. The pH changes show that FA and BaFApossess buffer ability, whereas the model agents do not. The tendency of balanced pHvalues was 5.4 for FA and 7.4 for BaFA, whereas the original pH was 4.0-8.5; balancedpH changed little. At room temperature, the maximum buffer capacities were as follows:18.11 mmol hydroxyl per gram FA, 11.25 mmol hydroxyl per gram BaFA, 1.19 mmol protonper gram FA, and 1.45 mmol proton per gram BaFA. Mathematics analysis shows thatlogarithm of buffer capacities of FA and BaFA is linearly dependent on original pH. Compared with BaFA and model agents, it is concluded that FA buffer capacity against hydroxylrelies not only on its acidic groups, BaFA buffer capacity against hydroxyl does not rely onits acidic groups, and FA buffer capacity against proton is not related with its carboxyl andphenolic hydroxyl group. The pH values of FA-water solutions with different concentrationsfrom 1 to 10 grams per liter were measured. Their pH values were slightly affected by itsconcentration. Thus, FA possesses a much stronger buffer ability against water dilutionthan common buffer agent. All the pH values of FA water solutions were very nearby 5.4,just the same as the balanced pH tendency for adding FA.

Calcified roasting-acid leaching process of vanadium from low-grade vanadium-containing stone coal

The low-grade vanadium-containing stone coal used in this experiment was collected from Wuxi Country, Chongqing City, China. The experiment focused on the vanadium recovery from roasted residue through optimizing the process conditions of an effective and environmentally-friendly technology, named calcified roasting-sulfuric acid leaching technology. By single-factor experiments and orthogonal experiments, the effects of roasting temperature, roasting time, sulfuric acid concentration and leaching time on the leaching ratio of vanadium were analyzed. The results showed that the leaching ratio of vanadium reached 85.5% under the proper technological conditions of roasting temperature=950℃, roasting time=4 h, 40% concentration of sulfuric acid and leaching time=6 h.

An Experimental Study on the Production of Fulvic Acid from Brown Coal Using N-Mn-TiO_2 as a Catalyst and H_2O_2 or HNO_3 as an Oxidizer

[Objective] The study aimed to extract fulvic acid from brown coal using N-Mn-TiO2 as a catalyst and H2O2 or HNO3 as an oxidizer. [Method] The effects of catalyst N-Mn-TiO2 on the yield and structure of fuMc acid were studied, and the content of functional groups in fulvic acid was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. [ Reselt] Two catalysts could improved the yield of fulvic acid, that is, catalyst 1 （N： Mn： 13 = 16： 0.001：1, roasting temperature was 400 ℃） and catalyst 2 （N： Mn： Ti = 16： 0.001：1, roasting temperature was 100 ℃） increased OFA yield by 10.69% and 32.17% and NFA by 8.61% and 7.49% respectively. After the addition of catalysts, the content of total acid radicals in OFA changed little, and carboxyi content increased slightly, but phenolic hydroxyl content decreased. When HNO3 was used as an oxidizer, the content of total acid radicals and phenolic hydroxyl in NFA decreased. In addition, the structure of OFA was different from that of NFA. [Condusion] The research could provide scientific references for the development and application of brown coal in future.

Experimental Study on the Method of Extracting Humic Acids from Brown Coal Using Hydrogen Peroxide

[ Objective l The study aimed to discuss the optimal conditions of extracting humic acids from brown coal using hydrogen peroxide （H202）. [ Method] Fulvic acid （FA） was prepared through oxidizing the brown coal from Qujing City, Yunnan Province using H202, and humic acids were extracted from the original brown coal and its residues respectively, then the dominate constituents of humic acids were obtained by using pH grading method, finally their chemical composition of humid acids was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry and func- tional group content analysis. [Result] The mass ratio of the brown coal and oxidant affected the yield of FA most obviously, followed by oxidization temperature and duration, while oxidant concentration had no obvious effect. The optimum conditions were determined as follows： coal-oxidant ratio was 1 ： 0.60, oxidization temperature was 45 ℃, oxidization duration was 210 min, and the concentration of hydrogen peroxide was 20%. Under the conditions, the yield of FA was up to 20.40%. Analysis of component properties indicated that the content of carboxyl and total acidic groups in FA improved obviously under the optimum conditions, and the content of active functional groups in OHA was higher than that of HA, while the domi- nate constituents of OHA needed higher pH during precipitation compared with those of HA. [ Conclusion] The research could provide a new method to prepare good humic acids using brown coal,

Construction of Dry Cover System for Prevention of Acid Mine Drainage at Mine Waste Dump in Open Cast Coal Mines, Indonesia

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) which occurs when sulfide minerals are exposed to water and oxygen with an excavation is one of the serious environmental problems in the world. A dry cover system is generally constructed in waste dump for the prevention of AMD in Indonesia by virtue of low cost and availability of waste rocks for a cover layer. However, the failure of the system caused by the lack of information related to the construction of cover system in mines, which leads to AMD, has been reported recently in Indonesia. In this study, the field investigation was conducted in pit and waste dump in open cast coal mine in Indonesia with the aim of obtaining the information on the construction of a cover layer and backfilling conditions of waste rocks in the waste dump. The rock samples taken in two areas of the mine were analyzed by geochemical analysis and sequential extraction with acids. The results indicated that Net Acid Producing Potential (NAPP) of the rocks in the waste dump down to 100 cm depth in both areas was from 10 to 30 kg H2SO4/ton, suggesting that Potentially Acid Forming (PAF) was backfilled in a cover layer. The backfill of PAF was contrary to the concept of cover system, which caused the failure of constructing a cover layer. The cause of the failure was likely attributed to the shortage of cover rocks which are classified as Non Acid Forming (NAF) or the failure of proper placement of them by an operational problem in the areas. Moreover, the results of the extraction with acids suggested that the form of iron and sulfur has to be taken into account to discuss the occurrence of AMD.