1. Carbonization of coals
The fuel needed for large modern blast furnaces can be neither wood, whose combustion temperature is too low, nor hard coal, whose melting point between 350 and 500°C is an obstacle to the permeability essential for shaft furnace operation. Early blast furnaces were fuelled by charcoal, which is rich in carbon and non-fusible.
For reasons of wood availability, English metallurgists thought of using coal from their country's rich subsoil, by carbonizing it in millstones or beehives in a similar way to charcoal manufacture. This innovation, which dates back to the end of the 16th century, has been reported in both England and Germany.
Initial attempts to use coke in blast furnaces were unsuccessful, and it was Abraham Darby who first produced coke cast iron in 1709.
Today, almost all blast furnaces run on coke, with...
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Carbonization of coals
Manufacture of metallurgical coke
Bibliography
Standards and norms
French Standards Association (AFNOR)
- Combustibles minéraux solides. Détermination de l'indice de matières volatiles du charbon et du coke. - NF M03-004 - (février 2003)
- Combustibles minéraux solides. Dosage de l'azote. - NF M03-018 - (janvier 2003)
- Coke. Détermination de la densité relative vraie, de la densité relative apparente et de la porosité. - NF ISO 1014 - (mai 2004) ...
Regulations
Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for Iron and Steel Production. Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control), 2013. Report EUR 25521 EN.
Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of January 18, 2006 concerning the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and amending Council Directives...
Statistical and economic data
After remaining more or less stable at around 350 Mt per year until 2000, annual world coke production has been growing significantly since the beginning of the 21st century. It was around 455 in 2005, 595 in 2010 and 685 Mt in 2013.
This growth can be attributed entirely to China, whose coke production rose from 120 in 2000 to 243 in 2005, 390 in 2010 and 476 Mt in 2013. China's...
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