Coking pressure control by selective crushing of high coking pressure coal

Abstract

Controlling coking pressure is one of the most important aspects of the cokemaking process, since excessive coking pressure increases the force needed for coke cake pushing and in some cases leads to operational problems such as hard pushes or "stickers," causing wall damage. Against this backdrop, we investigated the selective fine crushing of high coking pressure coal as a way to reduce coking pressure. It was shown on a laboratory scale that the fine crushing of high coking pressure coal increases the permeability of the plastic coal layer, which decreases coking pressure (internal gas pressure). Based on the basic investigation, we tried the fine crushing of high coking pressure coal at commercial cokemaking plants, and it was confirmed during a long-term commercial-scale experiment that the fine crushing of high coking pressure coal decreases coking pressure and decreases the maximum power current of coke pushing. Thus, the selective fine crushing of high coking pressure coal is a promising way to reduce coking pressure and prolong coke oven life. © 2011 ISIJ.