Introduction to Coke Making Facilities at

Tata Steel India, Jamshedpur

by

Manoj K Sharma

Presented to COMA in November 2010

Coke, being a prime source of fuel in the blast furnaces, is manufactured as

an integral part of any integrated steel industry. Tata Steel, Jamshedpur site
is an example of this. The site has pride to be the largest stamp charged
battery site in the world and also includes a 36 year old top charged battery.

The picture indicates the arrangement of various facilities across the site.

Battery # 5,6,7

Battery # 8,9

By-Product Plant

Battery # 3

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Operating Batteries

There are six batteries in operation with a total of 198 ovens:

Battery - 3: 54 ovens, (Top charge)

Battery - 5: 30 ovens, (Stamp Charge)
Battery - 6: 60 ovens, (Stamp Charge)
Battery - 7: 54 ovens, (Stamp Charge)
Battery - 8: 70 ovens, (Stamp Charge)
Battery - 9: 70 ovens, (Stamp Charge)

Capacity: 17.5 ton for top charged oven and 23.4 ton for stamp charged
oven.
Time of coking: 17.5 hrs for top charged oven and 19 hrs and 45 min. for
stamp charge.
Temperature of carbonisation - 1250°C for top charged oven and 950 -
1050°C for stamp charge oven

Top Charged Battery Coal Preparation

Normally, two wagon tipplers unload coal. In case the tipplers are down,
the coal unloading can be done directly over the three slot bunkers of
capacity 2000 ton each (slot size 100mm x 125mm). A coal clearing
machine draws the coal from each slot bunker and feeds it through a system
of belt conveyers to the Crusher House. Coal is crushed to -3.2mm size
through Hammer Mills. Oil spraying (if required) is done on the conveyor
that feeds the coal to the different service bunkers. The aim of crushing is
to have 80% of crushed coal below 3.2mm size to achieve the optimum bulk
density. Crushed coal from the Crusher House is carried through a system
of belt conveyers and is stored in a service bunker of 3500 tons capacity.

Ovens Machines

The following oven machines are under operation at top charged battery:

a. Charging car: It operates on the top of the ovens and discharges

crushed coal in the oven.
b. Pusher car: It is on the ram side of each battery. It opens and
closes the oven door (ram side), pushes out the hot coke and levels
the coal charged into the ovens.

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c. Guide Car: It operates on the coke side of the battery. It opens the
coke side door guides the hot coke into the quenching car followed
by closing the coke-side door.
d. Daub Car: There are two daub cars on each side of the ovens to
seal the gap between the door and doorframe by daub clay.
e. Quenching Car: Receives the hot coke and takes it to the
quenching station for water quenching. Coke is then discharged on
to the wharf.

Figure 2: Top Charged Battery Sectional View

Charging of ovens is done from the top by the charging car through four
charging holes reference figure 2. The charged coal is levelled by the
‘leveller’ in the pusher car. Either the ON main charging or OFF main
charging method is employed. After charging, charging holes are closed
and carbonisation proceeds in the closed chamber. At the end of

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carbonisation, coke is pushed through the guide car into the quenching car.
It is quenched at the quenching station by water sprays and finally dumped
on to the coke wharves that are lined with double sintered fireclay bricks.
The pushing schedule followed in the batteries is 5-2 cycle. The second
side ovens are pushed one after the other, otherwise the heating chamber in
between will suffer an abnormally large drop in temperature when these
ovens are charged. This will have a detrimental effect on the refractory of
the sidewalls.

Battery Numbers 5, 6 and 7

In these batteries, a new technology has been adopted for charging raw coal
into the ovens, namely, Stamp Charging, in order to obtain higher through
put and coke of improved quality. The technology basically involves
formation of a stable coal cake with finely crushed coal (88-90% - 3mm) by
mechanically stamping outside the oven and pushing the cake thus formed
inside the oven for carbonisation. Coal moisture is maintained at 8-10% for
the formation of cake. Due to stamping, the bulk density of the charge
increases by 30-35% causing significant improvement in micum indices and
CSR values of coke. Oven productivity increases by 10-12% and there is a
possibility of using inferior coking coals to the extent of about 20%.

There are three Stamping, Charging and Pushing machines (SCP machines),
which are quite different from the existing pushing machines in top charged
batteries. Instead of the conventional charging car on the battery top, two
charging gas-cleaning machines (CGC machine) have been provided to
clean the gas evolved during the charging of coal cake into the oven. In
place of conventional luted doors, the ovens have been provided with self-
sealing doors with spring loaded stainless steel seals. Mechanical door and
doorframe cleaning machines have been installed both on SCP and coke
guide machines to clean the door and doorframe to ensure proper sealing of
the ovens. Suitable interlocking systems have been incorporated to
interlock the SCP machine and coke guide car for the safety of operation of
the batteries.

As in the existing batteries, an automatic fuel reversal system (hydraulically

operated) has been provided along with adequate electronic/hydraulic
instrumentation to control the calorific value of blast furnace gas to ensure
uniform heating of the ovens. Drag link scraper conveyors with separate
discharge bins have been provided to take care of the spillage of coal on the
working benches of both pusher and coke sides. Two impact crushers, each

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of 275tph capacities, have been installed for crushing coal for this battery to
a size of 3.15mm over 90%. Coal from the crusher house is stored in two
service bunkers of 1500 ton and 1650 ton capacities located on the SCP
machine track of the batteries. The following oven machines are supporting
the operation:

a. Stamp charging and pushing: 3 Nos. machines (SCP machine)

b. Door extractor-cum-guide cars: 2 Nos.
c. Charging gas cleaning: 2 Nos. (CGC) machine
d. Quenching cars with locos: 3 Nos.

The coke from these batteries is quenched in laminar flow type quenching
towers to ensure complete quenching and less residual moisture in coke.
The quenched coke will be discharged on the wharf provided with travelling
ploughs of 200tph capacities. The coke will be further processed in the
existing coke plant for battery numbers 5 and 6. The coal handling facilities
for these batteries have been shown in figure 3.

Figure 3: Coal Handling Facilities for Battery Numbers 5, 6 and 7

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Battery Heating

The heating chamber is divided into 28 flues, which form 14 pairs.

Between each pair of flues near the top of the heating chamber is a
connecting port called the Hair Pin, through which the products of
combustion cross over from the flue ‘on gas’ to the flue ‘on down’ draft.
Either blast furnace gas or coke oven gas is used for heating. When using
blast furnace gas, it is preheated in regenerators. After every 30 minutes,
fuel is reversed within the twin flues. Heating chamber temperature is
100°C above the coking temperature and the temperature at coke end is kept
50°C higher than at the ram end to take care of the increased mass of coal at
the coke end. The oven is tapered to facilitate easy pushing. The oven is
wider at the coke end, reference figure 4.

Figure 4: Heating Arrangements in Stamp Charged Oven

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Coke Handling

The Coke section receives coke from battery numbers 5, 6 and 7. Coke is
classified into the following sizes:

Blast Furnace Coke +34mm to -80 mm

Nut coke +10mm to -34mm coke
Coke breeze -10mm

The above sizes are subject to variations as per requirements of the Blast
Furnaces. Nut coke is consumed in blast furnaces. The coke breeze is used
for sinter making. Blast furnace coke is sent to the blast furnace bunkers on
conveyors.

Battery numbers 8 and 9

Battery numbers 8 and 9, both have 70 ovens each and both the batteries are
stamp charged.

Coal Handling

Figure 5: Coal Handling in Battery 8 and 9

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The coal handling starts from 10 blending bins, referred to as silos.
Unloading at silos is done through wagon tipplers. The capacity of each
silo is 800 tons and each is fitted with a weigh feeder, which helps in
preparing a coal blend. Blended coal is taken through conveyors to the
Primary Crusher House and then to the secondary Crusher House. A belt
magnet is fitted to remove any magnetic material from the coal and two
metal detectors, MDI and MD II, are fitted before and after the primary
crusher respectively as shown in the figure. Moisture addition is done in
two stages, one after the primary crusher and then after secondary crusher.
Moisture addition is done to have good coal coke stability. Crushed coal
from the Crusher House is carried through a system of belt conveyors and is
stored in coal towers of capacity 2500 tons each.

Battery Heating

The heating arrangements at these batteries are similar to batteries 5, 6 and

7. It has further enhancement in terms of temperature monitoring and
controls.

Oven Machines

The machines used in battery operation are

1. S.C.P. Machine - Stamping Charging and Pushing Machine 2

C.T.C. Machine - Coke Transfer Machine
2. Quenching Loco and Car
3. CGT Car (Charge Gas Transfer)

Stamping Charging and Pushing Machine

The SCP machine is designed for the following function

1. Stamping of coal cake

2. Charging of ovens with stamped coal cake
3. Pushing of coke

The machine consists of a coal hopper of 120 ton capacity equivalent to 4

oven charges, stamping boxes with plate feeders from the hopper and
stamping units, charging systems devices, door manipulator for removal and
fixing of doors and door frame cleaning devices, and a pushing mechanism.
These are mounted on the machine with a long travel drive and precise

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positioning arrangement moving on 16 wheels weighing about 800tons.
Hydraulic and electric control imparts automatic operation in the proper
sequence.

Sequence of Operation

1. Travelling and position of S.C.P. machine beneath the coal tower

and filling the coal hopper of S.C.P. machine.
2. Stamping of coal cake.
3. Accurate positioning of S.C.P. machine by laser beam to pre-
selected oven.
4. Opening of ram side door.
5. Pushing.
6. Cleaning of ram side door and doorframe.
7. Travelling and positioning of machine for charging.
8. Charging.
9. Withdraw of charging plate and closing of stamping box for next
stamping operation of coal cake.
10. Centering for door closing and closing of ram side door.
11. Stamping and positioning for next oven.

Coke Transfer Car (C.T.C.)

The coke transfer car runs on rails along the coke side of the battery. It
serves to transfer the coke from the oven into the quenching car during
pushing. The main functions of the C.G.T. Car are as follows:

1. Opening of coke side door.

2. Cleaning of the frame.
3. Transferring of coke cake into the quenching car.
4. Collecting coke spillage during pushing.
5. Suppression of emissions.

The general functions sequence in auto mode is as follows

1. Travel the machine to the oven to be pushed.

2. Positioning of machine by laser beam.
3. Lowering spillage pan coke guide advance and allowing coke to
(retract coke guide and) fall into quenching car.
4. Lifting of spillage pan.
5. Positioning of machine to next oven.

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Quenching Car and Electric Loco

The quenching car is similar to railway wagons with a sloping bottom, and
the electric loco is the prime mover for the quenching car. The slope on the
bottom surface of the car is provided for free discharge of coke to wharves.
Pneumatic cylinders operate the gates and the brakes. The gates, sloping
bottom and skids of the car are provided with liner plates. The general
functional sequence in auto mode is as follows:

1. Travel and positioning of the machine to the oven to be pushed by

positioning device.
2. Coke receiving and travel to quenching tower. Coke quenching.
3. Flap operation water discharge open and draining.
4. Travel back to wharf, opening of gate and coke dumping. Then
closing of gate.

Charging Gas Transfer Car (C.G.T. Car)

When coal is charged into an oven, charging gas is generated immediately.

These gases are dealt with by using an effective gas transfer system called
charging gas transfer system. The C.G.T. system transfers the gas from the
charging oven (N) to (N+2) oven, and then to the By-Product Plant through
an almost completely closed system. To achieve this, stronger suction is
required by spraying high-pressure liquor at the gooseneck between the
hydraulic main and the ascension pipe. The operation area of the machine
is on the oven top.

Coke Handling

After quenching of coke by water, the quenching car dumps the coke on a
wharf made of concrete and lined with refractory bricks. The wharf is
provided with 2 plough extractors to uniformly extract coke from the wharf.
Coke is carried to the surge building through a series of conveyors. The
surge hopper, with a capacity of 200 tons, serves as storage before it is
screened. The coke is screened first at +80mm size and oversize is cut to
smaller size by coke cutters. It is again screened at 30mm size and the +30-
80mm goes to the blast furnaces through a distribution hopper of 100 ton
capacity. Provision is also made here for wagon loading. The -40 sizes go
to the grading building. The -40mm is screened further to produce coke
breeze and nut. These are stored in respective hoppers and are loaded and
dispatched through trucks.

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By-Product Plant

As soon as the coal is charged into the ovens, the volatile matter starts
evolving. The volatile matter containing the by-products and moisture
escapes through the ascension pipes into the hydraulic main and then to the
suction main through the crossover main. Raw coke oven gas, as produced
at coke ovens, is laden with impurities, which makes it difficult to use as a
fuel. Raw gas has to be subjected to a process of cleaning before it can be
put into the Steel Plant’s gas grid. Coal tar, naphthalene and ammonia are
three important impurities, which are removed in our coke oven gas
processing plant. Besides these chemicals, moisture, hydrogen cyanide and
hydrogen sulphide are some other impurities, which should also be
removed. Coal tar, naphthalene and moisture are non-gaseous substances,
which make transportation of coke oven gas in the supply grid difficult.
High coal tar and naphthalene contents in gas create choking in the burner
of reheating furnaces. Ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and hydrogen cyanide
are corrosive gases. Presence of moisture further aggravates the corrosive
action of these gases. The gas cleaning process at the By-Product Plant is
designed to handle on an average 107,000Nm3/hr of coke oven gas. The
exhausters, the primary coolers and the scrubbers can process coke oven gas
peaks up to 135,000Nm3/hr. The crude coke oven gas coming out from the
ovens at 850°C is cooled to 80°C by spraying flushing liquor and is further
cooled to 25°C in Primary Cum Deep Coolers (P.C.D.C.). The main
objectives of cooling the gas entering the By-Product Plant are to:

i. Clean the gas

ii. Reduce the volume of gas
iii. Facilitate the subsequent cleaning of the gas at the scrubbers

The heavier tar condensates, along with the flushing liquor are separated
from the hot gases at the hydraulic mains in the stamp charged batteries, and
at a down corner in the old batteries. In the case of the stamp charged
batteries, the coal tar is separated from the flushing liquor in tar decanters.
The tar produced is put into nearby tar stock tanks.

The coke oven gas cooling takes place in 6 primary cum deep coolers. The
gas enters the top at a temperature of approximately 80-82°C and leaves the
bottom at approximately 25°C. The gas includes two small recycle gas
streams. One stream consists of acid gases and water vapor from the
concentration of ammonia and the other is recycled naphthalene and benzol
vapor from the naphthalene still overhead. The coolers are horizontal tube

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type. The inlet gas is cooled from 80°/82°C over an upper tube bundle
carrying cooling water. Tar, naphthalene and water vapor condense from
the gas. The descending fluids are further cooled to approximately 25°C by
chilled water flowing through a lower bundle of tubes. Tar and liquor
emulsion at 70°C is sprayed on to the tube bundle of the cooler to prevent
naphthalene deposition on the outside of the tube. The emulsion can be
sprayed either at the top or mid-way into the cooling water bundle or
directly on to the chilled water bundle. Naphthalene dissolves in the
condensed coal tar. The tarry condensate flows out in the condensate
collection tank.

The cooling water circulation is on a recirculation system. The return water

is cooled in ID cooling tower. The chilled water system is a closed
recirculation system, connected with the refrigeration plant. While the bulk
of the tar and naphthalene condenses in primary coolers, not all of it
actually separates in primary coolers. Particles of tar and naphthalene
condensing towards the end of primary coolers flow out along with the gas
in the form of mist or fog. There are also entrained water particles. All
these entrained solids or liquids are precipitated from the gas in electrostatic
precipitators.

There are five operating precipitators. Primary cooler and electrostatic

precipitators are on the suction side of a gas exhauster, which provides the
motive force for the flow of gas from batteries to gas cleaning plant. In
addition to the three exhausters, one more exhauster has been installed to
take care of additional gas loads.

Gas Scrubbing for Napthalene and Ammonia Removal

The method adopted for naphthalene removal is scrubbing of coke oven gas
with absorbing oil. By bringing about an adequate contact between gas and
oil, almost all of the naphthalene from coke oven gas can be transferred to
the oil phase. The process is essentially repeatedly spraying the oil over
coke oven gas in large quantities. This is carried out in a set of three
scrubbers. The three scrubbers are operated in series with counter flow of
wash oil. Naphthalene rich oil is steam stripped and returned back for
spraying in the gas scrubbers. The stripped naphthalene is returned in
vapour form to the foul gas main, so that it condenses in primary coolers
and is dissolved there in coal tar.

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In a similar way, ammonia is removed from the coke oven gas by spraying
it with absorbing water. Water is a relatively cheaper absorption media as
compared to sulphuric acid. But its capacity to absorb ammonia is not as
much as that of sulphuric acid. Therefore large size scrubbers with repeated
sprays of water are necessary. In the By.Product Plant, ammonia is
scrubbed by water in a set of three scrubbers, each having four spray stages.
The water used for spray, comes from ammonia stills. As in the case of
naphthalene scrubbers, these scrubbers operate in series with a
countercurrent flow of sprayed water.

In order to ensure that the ammonia scrubbing is carried out without

problems of tar fog or dust precipitation in these scrubbers, an additional
scrubber has been put up in the B.P. Plant. This is called pre-scrubber. The
function of pre-scrubber is to make the gas flow through a shower of spray
liquor so that dust and tar particles get separated in this scrubber itself.
Flushing liquor is used as the scrubbing media and the accumulated tar or
dust is returned to tar decanters.

The scrubbers are not arranged in a sequence of all naphthalene scrubbers

preceding all ammonia scrubbers. Instead, a combination of naphthalene
scrubber and ammonia scrubber are kept in series. This ensures that before
the gas is cooled down in ammonia scrubbers, it is made to lose its
naphthalene in naphthalene scrubbers. There are three such pairs of
scrubbers and each pair can be taken .off the gas stream separately, so even
if the first pair is taken .off., the second scrubber combination also has
naphthalene scrubbers as opening scrubber. This arrangement ensures no
interference of naphthalene in ammonia scrubbers. The gas flow diagram of
the By-Product Plant is shown in figure 6.

Further Projects

The site is adding capacity by a couple of more batteries and a coke dry
quenching system. Dry quenching of coke is a major technology for the
post carbonisation treatment, which has come up in a big way. The red-hot
coke is cooled by inert gases, instead of conventional water quenching. It
not only effectively utilises the thermal energy of red-hot coke (80% of the
sensible heat of coke can be recovered and made use of for production of
steam, a major heat loss in the whole coking process mapped under sanky
diagram) but also results in improvement of the coke quality (M10 index
can be improved by 1 point).

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Figure 6: Gas Flow Diagram of the By-Product Plant

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