The Order of Kinetic Models in Coal Fines Flotation

The purpose of this article is to investigate the order of kinetic models in coal fines flotation. Six kinetic models with different orders were used for flotation tests using fine coals with different average particle sizes, 375, 188, 100, and 37 μm, respectively. Statistical techniques were employed to evaluate the models, and a nonlinear regression was used to calculate the model parameters by MatLab software. The results indicated that the first-order kinetic model with a rectangular distribution of floatabilities gave the best fit to the experimental data under the average particle size of 375 and 37 μm. Furthermore, the nonintegral-order equation fit the test data of fine coal in average particle sizes of 188 and 100 μm. The order of flotation process of moderate particles (188 and 100 μm in average particle size) and coarse/fine particles (375 and 37 μm in average particle size) were nonintegral order and first order, respectively. Likewise, a nonlinear relationship existed between the order of the flotation process and the average particle diameter.