Improvement of Iron Coke Strength by Adding Coal Tar During Coking

Abstract

This paper aims to provide useful knowledge on the use of coal tar as binder for the production of iron coke. The components of coal tar were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC–MS); consequently, the effects of coal tar on strength and structure of iron coke were analyzed. The results show that the main components of coal tar are benzene and aliphatic compounds, and its pyrolysis resultants are similar to the metaplast (fluid phase) components, which is helpful to improve the strength of iron coke. The addition of coal tar increases the degree of graphitization, aromaticity, and crystallite size of iron coke and reduces the specific surface area and reactivity of iron coke, thereby increasing the mechanical strength and the index of coke strength after reaction (CSR) of iron coke. 3% coal tar addition amount was determined as the optimal binder for strength optimization, and the iron coke with 40.21% CRI and 55.86% CSR was prepared.KeywordsIron cokeStrength improvementCoal tarGC–MSMetaplast