Metallurgical Coke Sampling

Metallurgical Coke Testing Lab

High temperature metallurgical coke is produced by the heating of bituminous coking coals in industrial coke ovens. When bituminous caking coals are heated in the absence of air, they begin to soften at a temperature of around 400 °C exhibiting a plastic-like behavior. At higher temperatures the plastic mass begins to fuse and the trapped volatile gases cause the mass to swell. As carburization is completed at a temperature of around 1100 °C, most of the volatile matter is expelled and the mass again resolidifies to a porous solid fuel that has a much higher carbon content and fewer impurities than that of the contributing coals. The extent of the swelling is a function of the rank and volatile matter content of the coal. The resulting coke is a hard, finely cellular, carbonaceous mass that can be used as both fuels in foundries and other industries and as a reducing agent for the smelting of iron ore to pig iron and other metal ores in the production of ferro alloys.
Most metallurgical cokes are produced in modern by-product coke ovens which capture the secondary gas and tars from the distillation process to reuse as supplemental fuels, or, in some cases, chemical feedstocks. Metallurgical cokes can be classified into two main types depending upon their production and intended industrial use.

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