THE EFFECT OF IRON IONS ON THE OIL AGGLOMERATION OF OXIDIZED COAL

The objective of this investigation was to study the effect of iron ions on the electrokinetic behaviour of oxidized coal, the adsorption of sodium oleate and the oil agglomeration. Generally, an increase in iron species increases the positive value of the zeta potential of the oxidized coal in the acidic pH range. The addition of sodium oleate, which is converted to oleic acid at this pH range, causes a decrease in the positive value of the zeta potential of coal. Adsorption results indicated that sodium oleate adsorption on the surface of coal was higher in the presence of iron species, in aqueous solution. Also, oil agglomeration took place at lower sodium oleate concentrations.