Utilization of steel plant waste and by-products in reactive coke making

Abstract

Coke is used in the blast furnace as a fuel. To produce the coke, metallurgical coals are blended in the coal blend. But the reserves of the coking coals are limited in India. Hence, there is a need to use the non-coking coals in the blast furnace. However, there is a limitation for use of non-coking coals in the coal blend for coke making. So, an attempt was made in this study to increase the amount of non-coking coals in the coal blends. In the present work, briquetting technique was used for producing briquettes having non-coking coal up to 40%, and rest is slightly coking coal along with reactive materials and binders. Those samples were compressed in a hydraulic press to form briquettes which were then carbonized. The strength and reactivity tests of those coal briquettes were carried out to determine the optimum addition proportion of reactive materials and binders. It was found that 10% of reactive material was optimum for briquette making. The use of coal tar pitch and petroleum pitch binders were also studied, and their optimum values were obtained as 3%. It was also found that coal briquettes comprising of LD (Linz-Donawitz) slag and iron oxide exhibited higher reactivity as compared to other reactive materials.