The present invention relates to a machine for reducing the sulfur originating from pyrite, said machine being for use in the mining and machinery industries, enabling the amount of pyritic sulfur contained in the coal to be reduced and enabling the coals with high sulfur content to be used for the purpose of heating.

STATE OF THE ART In our country, the lignite coals contain a high ratio of sulfur, although such ratios may vary according to the regions. Since the coals with a great content of sulfur are hazardous for the environment, the maximum ratio of sulfur allowed to be contained in the coals for use for heating purposes is 2,5%. The coals with sulfur content above this ratio are used in the industry and in the energy generation, and their use for heating purposes is forbidden. In this case, the available coal mines and coals with high sulfur content become unable to be put to good use and it is not possible to introduce to the economy a great part of this valuable mine of our country. As a result, the lump coal is imported in order to be used for heating purposes.

Currently, pursuant to "Regulation on the Control of Air Pollution Resulting from Heating", it is stipulated that the coals that are permitted to be used for heating purposes should not have a sulfur content in excess of a maximum level of 2,5%, although such level may vary in some provinces and districts. According to this regulation, our country is unable to use a great portion of its lignite coals for heating purposes and the lump coal is imported to be used for this purpose.

l As a result of their formation, the lignite beds contain pyrite in their chemical structure. Thus, due to the legal restrictions and the environmental impacts, it is not allowed to use the coals with sulfur content above 2,5% for heating purposes. Consequently, either the lump coals with high added value may not be extracted from the field or they may only be sold to the industry at low prices after being broken and being subjected to various processes once they are extracted.

Since the lignite coals of our country have high sulfur content, their use for heating purposes is not permitted. As a result, the importation of lump coal is conducted for the purpose of heating. Owing to the product according to the project, the amount of sulfur contained in the lump coals will be reduced and their extent of use for the purpose of heating will be enhanced. Of 12,4 billion tons of coal reserve of our country, about 30% has a sulfur ratio of around 4- 5%. This is the reason why these coals may not be used for the purpose of heating.

In the mining industry, there are different sorting systems according to the type of the mine and the process intended to be carried out. Some physical and chemical methods are proposed when the separation of the coal involves sorting according to the sulfur content. However, the factors such as the unfeasibility of the investment costs and the operating costs directly affect the usability in the industry. Various methods are employed depending on the type of the coal for the purpose of enriching the coals, but there is not a common method available for the reduction of the sulfur content. As far as the reduction of the sulfur content of the lump coals to be used for heating is concerned, there is no such system that finds application on the worldwide scale.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been developed in order to eliminate said questions mentioned above in relation to the state of the art.

Said invention relates to a machine for reducing the sulfur originating from pyrite, said machine being for use in the mining and machinery industries, enabling the amount of pyritic sulfur contained in the coal to be reduced and enabling the coals with high sulfur content to be used for the purpose of heating. Today, the lump coal is imported for use for heating purposes. Said invention enables the lump coals with high sulfur ratio to be used for heating purposes, by means of a high technology system that would make it possible to reduce the pyritic sulfur content of the coals. In this way, the extent of sale of the lump coals at low prices after being pulverized is reduced and the coal requirement of our country is provided from our own resources.

Either the lump coals with high added value may not be extracted from the field or they may only be sold to the industry at low prices after being broken and being subjected to various processes once they are extracted. With the present invention, the reduction is enabled in the sulfur originating from the pyrite in the lump coals as an unprecedented practice.

The use of low-quality coals in the industry, energy generation and heating increases the environmental pollution. The factor that makes the coal most significant in terms of environmental pollution is the amount of sulfur released as a result of combustion. To that end, various regulations were enacted in our country and the use of the coals with sulfur content in excess of 2,5% (on dry basis) was prohibited. As a result, TKi (General Directorate of Turkish Coal Enterprises) and private sector have an excessively great amount of lump coal stock with great sulfur content, which is not able to be commercialized with high added value. The primary object of the present invention is to remove the pyritic sulfur contained the lump coal able to be used for the purpose of heating, thereby improving the quality of the coal, enabling a reduction in the environmental pollution and introducing to the economy the coals otherwise used as waste. To that end, it is aimed to separate the sulfur (FeS2) in the lump coal by the use of the image processing technology and thus increase the economic value of the coals not able to be used for heating and provide the same for the use of our country.

No system similar to the present invention has been encountered. The efforts conducted as the solution to this problem have focused on the chemical and physical methods and the methods based on gravity; however, such methods may not be put into practice due to high operating costs. According to the present invention, the sulfur present in the coal in the form bound to the iron will be removed by the use of the image processing technology. Said invention also allows the classification of the coal according to the calorific values.

Based on the data obtained from the literature search in connection with the invention, it is understood that the image processing technology (X-Ray) is employed in many sectors such as food, medicine and waste sorting systems. According to such information, numerous test works were performed and the tests conducted on the machines used for various industries in numerous companies abroad led to the detection of the iron in the coal. It was realized that the iron is not present alone, but rather in FeS2 form in the coal and that this component may be separated through the image processing technology. After this stage, the waste sorting systems were examined and the sorting was found to be performed on the basis of the difference in the obtained images. Therefore, it was understood that similar practice is also usable by the mining industry. 2. It was realized that there is the likelihood for the overlap of the coal while it advances on band conveyor system. For the solution of this issue, it was envisaged to perform the on-band spreading process and use the vibrating bands. The innovative features of the present invention are as follows:

- The use of the image processing technology with X-ray system for the separation of the pyritic sulfur is an innovative feature of the invention.

- The system to be developed will, by conducting the additional studies, also be able to allow the classification of the coal according to the calorific value. - The lump coals with high sulfur content are normally subjected to the grinding process and some other processes, after which they are sold at low prices and used in the energy generation and industry. Owing to the present invention, this practice will not be necessary, wherein the lump coals with high sulfur content will be able to be directly commercialized at high price as lump coals for use in heating, via the system developed.

- It is not necessary to reduce the particle size. It will be possible to process all the coal lumps within the diameter range of 18-120 mm. In this way, no reduction in the price will result from the reduction of the coal size.

- The water will not be used in the process, and accordingly, there will be no need for a drying system. No unit is required to feed water into the system and to treat and recover the wastewater from the system. - The use of the chemicals is not needed.

- The capacity will be incomparably higher than the other systems. The reason is that the other systems include the processes of grinding, washing and drying the coal. Accordingly, the energy consumption will also be low.

The coals may be used in the industry only after being subjected to grinding processes and various other process steps. On the other hand, such processes increase the costs necessary for the commercialization of the coal and reduce the commercial value of the coal. The machine to be developed will enable the reduction of the sulfur content in the coals within the range of 18-120 mm and allow the use of the coals directly for the purpose of heating. In this way, the coal producers will be able to directly process the coals with particle size in the range of 18-120 mm and with high sulfur content in this machine and enable their use for the purpose of heating. Thus, the profits of the producers will increase, because there is a difference of about 50% between the sale price of the coal used for heating and that of the coal used in the industry.

Said invention will lead to;

. A contribution to the national accumulation of knowledge and technological advancement,

. A potential to initiate new applications or R&D projects in the same or different fields of technology inside and outside the enterprises,

. An expectation of patenting and license/know-how selling,

. An effect on the generation of new lines of business and employment,

. An industry-specific contribution,

. A potential to provide improvement in such topics such as the impact of the project and of its outputs on the socio-cultural life, education, health and the reduction of the difference in the development level between the regions, . The positive effects of the project activities and of their output on the environment and the living beings. The present invention enables the separation of the sulfur, which causes environmental pollution upon the combustion of the coal, and the production of a coal with better quality. In this way, it becomes possible to sell the coals with reduced sulfur content and contribute to the generation of healthier environment and healthier habitats for the living creatures.

The sulfur is present in the coal in organic and inorganic form. The pyritic sulfur in inorganic form constitutes 50% of the total sulfur content of the coal. Thus, the sulfur that is aimed to be removed is the sulfur present in inorganic state in FeS2 form. Accordingly, it has been concluded in the preliminary studies conducted based on the Fe ion that said separation would be possible by means of the image processing technology.

The method for the manufacture of the product according to the invention comprises the following process steps:

• The separation tests are conducted,

• The images of the coals according to their organic contents are obtained in the laboratory environment by means of X-Ray, the actual content is determined via the carbon and sulfur analyses and these values are tried to be matched to the distribution obtained from the image,

• The studies such as the sieve analysis, ash and moisture determination, carbon and sulfur analysis are performed prior to and after the test studies in order to examine the effect of the physical and chemical properties of the coal on the separation,

• The coals with diameter in the range 18-120 mm are fed into the machine by means of a moving band system,

• At this stage, the studies are conducted on how the band structure should be in order to ensure the feed of the coals in the form of a thin layer into the system with a view to reduce the overlap of the coals and reduce the error ratio in the image processing,

• Pixel density is important for the image processing technology. At this stage, the pixel density is determined depending on the % sulfur content,

• The speed of the piece with the determined sulfur amount on the moving band and how much time it would take for said piece to arrive at the separation section are calculated,

• The position, speed and time information are determined,

• Then, the air flow rate necessary for the separation of the piece is calculated, • After the calculation of the air flow rate, the number of nozzles and the nozzle diameters necessary for the system to achieve its capacity values are determined,

• The products obtained as a result of the separation tests are tested again in the laboratory environment to find the performance values and error coefficients, if any, and the necessary calibrations are performed.

The procedure associated with the product according to the invention is comprised by the following procedure steps:

• SolidWorks and Autocad programs are used for the design and drawing works,

• Image processing technology is employed for the process of classification of the coal according to the sulfur content and of separation,

• Correlation is established between the pixel distribution and % FeS2 to process the color differences and pixel distributions of the pyritic coals,

• The system is enabled to run in a synchronous manner,

• The carbon-sulfur analysis is performed on the products separated by the machine, for the purpose of verification,

• The sieve analysis, moisture determination and ash determination are performed for the verification studies and for the determination of the process parameters.

Once the checks are performed on the system with completed manufacture and assembly, the pyritic sulfur-containing coal samples will be fed into the system for the trial runs. The manufacturing studies aimed at the determination of the performance of the system comprise the following process steps:

• The pyritic sulfur is separated,

• The system's capacity is determined,

• The band speed is set,

• The pixel adjustment works are performed,

• The studies are performed to determine the error ratio of the system, • The laboratory tests are conducted to analyze the properties of the coals possible to be fed into the system and the coals output from the system,

• Mass balances are established for the process to determine the amounts of the product obtained and the waste, the amount of free sample in the waste and the amount of waste in the free sample and the study is made on the system's process conditions. At this stage, the checks are made on

- The blowing flow rates,

- Timing for the activation and deactivation of the blowing,

- Check of the speed-position calculations for the coal on the band.

• The coal samples with different organic and inorganic structure are tested in the system,

• The performance measurement is made for the system,

• The suitability of the system for different coal samples is determined, · Then, the optimization studies are performed for the entire system. At this stage, the studies are made for

- Identifying the operating ranges of the system for different coal classes,

- Identifying the operating ranges of the system for the coal samples with diameter in the range of 18-120 mm,

- Checking and improving and reporting to ensure that the error ratio does not exceed 5%.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 1. Process flow chart according to the present invention