Comparative screening of organic additives in kerosene-based oil agglomeration of Zonguldak bituminous coal fines

Four organic additives – carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ), bromoform (CHBr 3 ), methanol and ethanol – were compared as modifiers in kerosene-based oil agglomeration of Zonguldak bituminous coal fines that had been pre-cleaned by ZnCl 2 float–sink separation (2.23 wt% ash). A 4 × 4 × 3 matrix of additive type, additive concentration (0.5, 5, 50 and 150 mg/L) and kerosene dosage (5, 10 and 15% of dry coal mass) were tested in three separately prepared runs per condition (48 conditions; 144 observations). Without kerosene, less than 1% of the feed was recovered as an agglomerated product. The recovered-product mass yield depended jointly on the additive type, concentration and kerosene dosage (three-way interaction, F (18, 96) = 5.49, p < 0.001), so no single additive ranking held across kerosene levels. The highest observed mean yield, 83.4%, was obtained with ethanol at 15% kerosene and 150 mg/L, compared with 71.6% for the additive-free control. Ethanol is a priority candidate in mass-yield screening rather than a demonstrated superior modifier. Because product ash and retained kerosene were not determined, the results concern recovered-product mass yield only; ash rejection, combustible recovery and separation selectivity cannot be established, and the low feed ash further limits any assessment of selectivity.