Petcoke and Its Uses in the Steel Making Process

El coque de petroleo, tambien conocido como Petcoke, desempe a un papel fundamental en la industria manufacturera moderna. Desde el generacion de energ a hasta numerosos procesos especializados, el coque de petroleo ofrece una solucion rentable para una serie de aplicaciones.

Petroleum coke can be used in many industries, including power generation, aluminum smelting (for aluminum foil), steel production and cement kilns. It's also a crucial raw material in the manufacture of graphite electrodes and is increasingly being utilized in coal gasification.

The residues of other distillation processes are first transferred to "coking units", which are special units. These coke factories treat the residual oils under high pressure and heat to produce solid Petroleum coke. Green Petroleum coke is the result. It can be used for some applications directly, but to use it in iron-making applications, further processing must be done to make it calcined Petroleum coal.

Calcined Petroleum is harder, denser, and more dense than green Petroleum coke. It also has a greater carbon content. Petcoke is made more efficient for industrial boilers because of its low moisture level. The calcination removes the volatile substances in petcoke. The carbon-rich material is also rich in useful metal and mineral compounds that make it a vital feedstock for many industries.

Petcoke is used primarily to replace coal when producing steel. It provides a high level of energy efficiency while reducing the amount of sulphur dioxide emissions during the steel making process. But the sulphur concentration in petroleum coal must be controlled carefully to prevent contamination of the finished product.

The Low-Sulfur ( 2.5 percent) petcoke that is used in the steel making process is ideally blended with limestone to remove any excess sulphur and then used to replace coal as the main heat source for the blast furnace. This results in a reduction in coking coal consumption by around 16 per cent and an overall increase in energy efficiency of the steel making plant.

Petroleum coke in all its forms, including blocky sponge coke and needle coke made from delayed coking as well as shot-sized coke from fluid bed coal, must undergo careful testing in order to determine if the amounts of carbon, sulfur, or metal are acceptable for industrial equipment. It is possible to reduce the amount of metal, sulfur and carbon in petcoke by regularly testing samples. The test results are used to allocate production costs and control plant operations.

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