Modelling of Hard Coal Beneficiation Process Utilising Negative Pressure Pneumatic Separator

The dry separation methods for coal beneficiation have been regaining attention in the past decades. A number of improved or newly designed devices have been developed—one of them is a negative pressure pneumatic separator (NPPS). The said method of separation is based on the differences in the physical properties between coal and gangue minerals, such as the grain density, size, and shape. The aim of the hereby presented work was to develop working models describing the operation of the NPPS. To validate the models, the calculation results were compared with experimental results of the tests carried out in the previous study on the topic. Based on the findings it can be inferred that the models accurately predict the separation results, i.e., the majority of results are within the range of estimated measurement uncertainties. Consequently, the models allow one to optimise the process to obtain the products with desirable properties.