Effect of Polycarboxylic Acid Used as High-Performance Dispersant on Low-Rank Coal-Water Slurry

A new polycarboxylic (PC) acid was prepared from copolymerization of 2-methyl-1-butylene alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (HPEG), acrylic acid (AA), and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) and used as a high-performance dispersant in low-rank coal-water slurry (CWS). The optimized conditions are as follows: the reaction temperature is 80°C, the mole ratio of HPEG, AA, and AMPS is 1:3:0.3, and the inherent viscosity of PC polymer is 49.26 ml/g. The molecule structure of PC polymer was characterized by means of FTIR. Moreover, the apparent viscosity, static stability, and rheological property of CWS with the concentration of 63.0 and 65.0 wt% were all determined by adding PC hyper-dispersant or naphthalene sulfonate-formaldehyde (NSF) condensate dispersant at 0.5 wt% dosage. The result shows that PC dispersant has better properties than commercial NSF product in low-rank CWS. The effect was well rationalized by a combination of electrostatic repulsion force, wetting property, and steric hindrance provided by PC polymer.