Han GS  Kim DS  Lee DK

Vol. 27,  No. 1, pp. 24-32, Mar.  2021
10.7464/ksct.2021.27.1.24

Fly ash Flotation Rubber weight-adding material Plastic filling material

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Unburned carbon (UC) was successfully separated from fly ash by up to 85.8% in weight via froth flotation using soybean oil as a collector. An 18 wt% yield of microceramics (CM) could be achieved by employing a hydro cyclone separator located immediately after the flotation equipment. UC and CM were tested as alternatives to weight-adding material and polymer (especially polypropylene in this study) filler, respectively. Large particles of UC were broken down into smaller ones via ball milling to have an average particle diameter of 10.2 μm. When crushed UC was used as an alternative to clay as a rubber weight-adding material, a somewhat lower tensile strength and elongation rate than the allowed values were unfortunately obtained. In order to satisfy the standard limits, further treatment of UC is required to enhance surface energy for more intimate bonding with rubber. CM was observed in spherical forms with an average diameter of 5 μm. The surface of the CM particles was modified with phenol, polyol, stearic acid, and oleic acid so that the surface modified CM could be used as a polypropylene-filling agent. The flowability was good, but due to the lack of coupling forces with polypropylene, successful impact strength and flexural strength could not be obtained. However, when mixing the surface-modified CM with 1% silane by weight, a drastic increase in both the impact strength and flexural strength were obtained.