Analysis of the Influence of Biomass Addition in Coal Mixture for Metallurgical Coke Production

Abstract

Metallurgical coke is a common material used for hot metal production in blast furnaces. In addition to the fuel function, it has a physical assignment, supporting the load inside the reactor, and chemical, supplying carbon to hot metal. However, due to growing discourse on environmental issues, the production of hot metal via coke blast furnace has been in evidence. This process is responsible for about 70% of CO2 emissions in steelmaking. On the other hand, biomasses are materials that are available in different ways in nature and considered neutral in CO2 emissions since they absorb this gas and release oxygen in the photosynthesis process. Thus, a viable alternative in the short term is the partial replacement of the coal used in coke production with biomass, which would generate environmental gains, and guarantee the sustainable production. Therefore, this work aims to show several published researches using biomass in coke production. The effects that biomass has on the properties of coke will be emphasized, and at the end, an environmental analysis will be shown with the possible use of biomass. It will be possible to see that it is possible to substitute between 2 and 10% of the coal for biomass, producing coke with the characteristics required in the blast furnace.