Kennedy, Dennis Lee2014-03-142014-03-142008-10-14etd-10272008-172159http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35510The potential for improved selectivity has made column flotation cells a popular choice for upgrading fine coal. Unfortunately, recent production data from full-scale column plants indicate that many industrial installations have failed to meet original expectations in terms of clean coal recovery. Theoretical studies performed using a simple dispersion model showed that this inherent shortcoming could be largely minimized by reconfiguring the columns to operate in series as a cell-to-cell circuit. Follow-up field data showed that this low-cost modification increased flotation recovery as predicted by the dispersion model. This study presents the key findings obtained from the field investigation and provides generic guidelines for designing multi-stage column circuits.In CopyrightResidence Time DistributionCoal FlotationColumn FlotationThesishttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10272008-172159/