Dewatering fine coal is needed in many applications but has remained a great challenge. The hydrophobic-hydrophilic separation (HHS) method is a powerful technology to address this problem. However, organic solvents in solvent-coal slurries produced during HHS must be recovered for the method to be economically viable. Here, the experimental studies of recovering solvents from pentane-coal and hexane-coal slurries by combining liquid-solid filtration and in-situ vaporization and removing the solvent by a carrier gas (i.e., drying) are reported. The filtration behaviors are studied under different solid mass loading and filtration pressure. It is shown that using pressure filtration driven by 20 psig nitrogen, over 95% of solvents by mass in the slurries can be recovered, and filtration cakes can be formed in 60 s. The drying behavior was studied using nitrogen and steam at different temperatures and pressures. It is shown that residual solvents in filtration cakes can be reduced below 1400 ppm within 10 s by 15 psig steam superheated to 150C, while other parameter combinations are far less effective in removing solvents. Physical processes involved in drying and the structure of solvent-laden filtration cakes are analyzed in light of these results. / Master of Science / Coal particles below a certain size are discarded to waste tailing ponds as there is no economically viable method for processing them. However, a new process called hydrophobic-hydrophilic separation offers a solution to this problem. A hydrophobic solvent is used to displace water from a coal-water slurry, and it is then easier and cheaper to filter and dry this new coal-solvent slurry. In this work experimental studies of recovering solvents from pentane-coal and hexane-coal slurries by combining filtration and drying are reported. The filtration behaviors are studied under different solid mass loading and filtration pressures. It is shown that using pressure filtration driven by 20 psig nitrogen, over 95% of solvents by mass in the slurry can be recovered, and filtration cakes can be formed in 60 s. The drying behavior was studied using nitrogen and steam at different temperatures and pressures to evaporate any remaining solvents. It is shown that the remaining solvents in filtration cakes can be reduced below 1400 ppm within 10 s by using 15 psig steam superheated to 150C as a drying medium, while other parameter combinations are far less effective in removing solvents. Physical processes involved in drying and the structure of solvent-laden filtration cakes are analyzed in light of these results.

Biomass such as spent grain is difficult to dry when it is in the slurry form. Proposed industrial solutions are to compact wet biomass first and then dry it. Compaction develops desired granular form and increases surface area for drying but also brings new technical challenges. Superheated steam (SS) drying is advantageous over hot-air drying as it is more energy efficient. A problem associated SS drying is the initial condensation leading to disintegration of biomass compacts. The current research investigates the disintegration characteristics of distiller’s spent grain (DSG) compacts while being dried in SS. The study focuses on the DSG flowability, densification characteristics and disintegration behavior of DSG compacts as affected by SS drying conditions, soluble content and particle size distribution (PSD). DSG fractions with particle sizes from 300 to 850 µm were dried in SS at 150°C and hot-air at 45 and 150°C. Under these drying conditions bulk density and angle of repose (AOR) varied from 0.379 to 0.435 g/cm3 and 46.0 to 50.4°, respectively. The stress-relaxation data obtained during the compaction of DSG at different levels of compressive pressure (60.3-135.7 MPa), initial moisture content (15, 20 and 25% wet basis- wb) and soluble content (15 and 30%) were normalized and analyzed to determine the asymptotic modulus (EA) of the compacts. The highest EA of 174 MPa was obtained for DSG compacts produced with a compressive force of 135.7 MPa, initial moisture of 25% wb and soluble content of 0%. The percentage increase in volume of DSG compacts during drying in SS at 110 to 150°C temperature range was between 78 to 130%. A comparison between the physical properties of SS dried and hot-air dried compacts revealed the role of SS in accelerating the release of mechanical energy stored in the compacts. An increase of dimensions and a considerable increase in the hardness and EA of the compacts was obtained by adding up to 70% (w/w) solubles or by decreasing the PSD of wet distiller’s spent grain from d(0.9)=1283.6 to 812.8 µm. This study establishes that compaction of wet biomass followed by SS drying can lead to its effective utilization.