Coals generally exist with clay minerals, which are very fine-sized minerals, and adversely affect the flotation of coal. For instance, they make the coal surface hydrophilic by coating coal surfaces and therefore, they inhibit bubble-particle attachment. Clay minerals can also cause over-consumption of reagents due to their high surface area. Additionally, clay minerals can transfer into the concentrate during the flotation process by entrainment because of their low weight and small particle size, and thus, increase pulp viscosity and changing froth stability. In this study, the influence of various clay minerals (kaolinite, illite, and bentonite) on the flotation behavior of coal sample was studied in detail by conventional flotation tests. In addition, the values obtained from flotation tests were correlated with theoretical energy barrier values established with classical DLVO theory based on zeta potential values of coal and clay samples measured at different pH values. According to the results of this study, no significant effect of clay minerals was observed on coal flotation. This was probably because of the high floatability of the coal used for this study. Both the results obtained from the experiments and theoretical analysis, DLVO calculations, showed that the type of clay mineral is the main indicator parameter for coal flotation.

煤通常与粘土矿物一起存在，粘土矿物是非常细小的矿物，会对煤的浮选产生不利影响。例如，它们通过覆盖煤表面使煤表面具有亲水性，因此它们抑制了气泡-颗粒的附着。粘土矿物质由于其高表面积也可能导致试剂的过度消耗。另外，由于粘土矿物的重量轻且粒径小，因此它们在浮选过程中会因夹带而转移到精矿中，从而增加了纸浆粘度并改变了泡沫的稳定性。在这项研究中，通过常规浮选试验详细研究了各种粘土矿物（高岭石，伊利石和膨润土）对煤样品浮选行为的影响。此外，浮选试验获得的值与经典DLVO理论建立的理论能垒值相关，该理论基于在不同pH值下测得的煤和粘土样品的Zeta电位值。根据这项研究的结果，没有观察到粘土矿物对煤浮选的显着影响。这可能是因为该研究所用煤具有较高的漂浮性。从实验和理论分析，DLVO计算得出的结果都表明，粘土矿物的类型是煤浮选的主要指标参数。这可能是因为该研究所用煤具有较高的漂浮性。从实验和理论分析，DLVO计算得出的结果都表明，粘土矿物的类型是煤浮选的主要指标参数。这可能是由于该研究所用煤具有较高的漂浮性。从实验和理论分析，DLVO计算得出的结果都表明，粘土矿物的类型是煤浮选的主要指标参数。