Coal - Mycobacterium phlei Interaction and its Effect on Coal Cleaning

The adsorption of micro-organisms can be used in separation of valuable minerals from their gangue minerals. The coal is one of the important sources of energy. Most of the coal deposits are low rank coals that contain sulfur compounds and mineral matters which release harmful and toxic gases while burning of coal. In the current study, the interaction of Mycobacterium phlei (M. phlei) with coal was characterized with several techniques such as zeta potential, adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms and Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR). In addition, the M. phlei was tested for sulfur and ash removal from coal. The results of surface characterization indicated that the optimum pH was 2 - 4 where the M. phlei is physically adsorbed to coal particles due to slight electrostatic interactions as well as the hydrophobic interaction. The M. phlei increases the coal separation selectivity from its associated impurities and reduces the total sulfur and ash to 0.9 %and 2.1 %, respectively.