The matching rules between dispersants and Shenfu coals (SFC) slurriability were investigated by using attenuated total internal reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Based on the ATR-FTIR results of four kinds of dispersants

the hydrophilic groups (-OH、-C-O、-C=O、-SO3-) and hydrophobic groups (-CH3、CH2、-C=C) were calculated by Gaussian peak separation method

respectively

and the effects of hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups on the SFC slurriability were also discussed. The results showed that the slurry concentration of Shenfu coal water slurry (SFCWS) with ZFZ dispersants was the highest

but with MZS dispersants it was the lowest. The results indicated that ZFZ was a good kind of dispersant for SFCWS because of its less hydrophobic groups and more hydrophilic groups. A slurry concentration prediction model and matching degree model between the dispersants and SFC were further proposed by partial least squares method. The models were proved by using JJN

DNC and SMS dispersants with the errors of predictive slurry concentration within ±1%. The change trend of predictive slurry concentration and matching degree was consistent with the actual slurry concentration.