Honaker and his co-investigators envision the following. Inside the plant, the slurry will undergo an advanced cleaning process. First it will flow into a device called an enhanced gravity separator, which works something like a washing machine in reverse. Spinning action will throw off precious coal-rich liquids, while much of the accompanying dirt stays in the tub. Full-scale froth flotation columns, already used by some coal companies to recover some of the fine coal that would otherwise end up in waste ponds, can be as much as 25 feet tall and 10 feet around.
Air bubbles percolate up through the column, creating surface froth.
Coal particles cling to the bubbles, hitching a ride to the top. Impurities, such as pyrite, that escaped the gravity separator sink to the bottom of the column, where they can be washed away. SIUC co-investigator Y. Paul Chugh then will neutralize pyrite pollutants in the remaining waste, creating benign backfill for reclamation. Chugh heads the University's Mining and Mineral Resources Engineering Department. The team will receive financial and technical assistance from several sources, including the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs , the Illinois State Geological Survey, the University of Kentucky, Eriez Magnetics of Erie, Pa., Falcon Concentrators of Vancouver, and Richwood Industries of Huntington, W.Va.