COAL BENEFICIATION AND UTILIZATION PROCESS

摘要

A method of beneficiating a particulate carbonaceous material such as coal, including formation of a slurry of the material in an aqueous salt solution. The slurry is separated in a cyclone into a low-density fraction and a high-density fraction with the low-density fraction having particulate carbonaceous material with a lower sulfur content and lower ash content than the particulate carbonaceous material in the high-density fraction. The particulate carbonaceous material with a lower sulfur content and lower ash content is separated from the low-density fraction but a residue of the aqueous salt solution is left thereon. The separated particulate carbonaceous material with a residual portion of the salt is used as a fuel in a process producing carbonaceous gases with at least a portion of the lower sulfur content gettered in solid form by the residual salt or further lowered in a process producing superclean coal. Potassium salts as well as calcium and nickel salts are disclosed.