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Metallurgical coal or coking coal [1] is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. [2] [3] [4] The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled to the demand for steel. Primary steelmaking companies often have a division that ...
The replacement of charcoal with coal in the steel-making process revolutionized the industry, and tied steelmaking to coal-mining areas. In the 1800s, making a ton of steel required a greater weight of coal than iron ore. Therefore, it was more economical to locate closer to the coal mines.
Steel is an alloy composed of between 0.2 and 2.0 percent carbon, with the balance being iron. From prehistory through the creation of the blast furnace, iron was produced from iron ore as wrought iron, 99.82–100 percent Fe, and the process of making steel involved adding carbon to iron, usually in a serendipitous manner, in the forge, or via the cementation process.
This process greatly improved the quantity and quality of steel production. It added three hours firing time and required large quantities of coke. In making crucible steel, the blister steel bars were broken into pieces and melted in small crucibles, each containing 20 kg or so. This produced higher quality metal, but increased the cost.
The two main inputs into iron- and steel-making are a source of iron and a source of energy. Additional requirements are a fluxing material to remove the impurities, and alloy metals to give particular properties to the metal. Raw materials used in US iron and steel production, 2012
Interior of a coke oven (1976, Wales). In the early days of the ferrous metallurgy, charcoal was used exclusively in the production of ores. [4] Raw fossil coals (lignite and black coal) or uncharred wood are unsuitable for iron metallurgy, as their impurity content prevents them from reaching a temperature high enough to produce good cast iron.
Writing in Le Monde in 1970, Gilbert Mathieu argued the Community had little effect on coal and steel production, which was influenced more by global trends. [33] From 1952, oil, gas, and electricity became competitors to coal, so the 28% reduction in the amount of coal mined in the Six had little connection with the Treaty of Paris. [ 33 ]
If anthracite coal is used then the grate is 1.5 m × 1.2 m (4.9 ft × 3.9 ft) and is loaded with 50–75 cm (20–30 in) of coal. Due to the great heat required to melt the charge the grate had to be cooled, lest it melt with the charge.