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Coal blend moisture—a boon or bane in cokemaking?

Article  in  Coke and Chemistry · April 2013

DOI: 10.3103/S1068364X13040030

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ISSN 1068364X, Coke and Chemistry, 2013, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 126–136. © Allerton Press, Inc., 2013.
Published in Russian in Koks i Khimiya, 2013, No. 4, pp. 22–33.

COKE

Coal Blend Moisture—A Boon or Bane in Cokemaking?1

S. K. Dasa, A. S. Nandyb, A. Paulb, B. K. Sahooa, B. Chakrabortya, and A. Dasa
a
Research & Development Centre for Iron and Steel, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL),
Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand 827001, India
bBokaro Steel Plant, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand 827001, India

email: skdasju@gmail.com, skdasju@sailrdcis.com

Received February 8, 2013

Abstract—A byproduct coke making plant is required to supply sufficient coke of good quality and adequate
gas of high calorific value for the integrated steel plant to be a going concern. The one element that influences
the handling of coal and impacts the operation and efficiency of the plant is moisture. Compared to other
important properties of the coal blend, moisture can be easily manipulated. The coal moisture can be
increased simply by adding water through hose pipes. Also, it can be reduced to 5–6 mass percent using Coal
Moisture Control (CMC) and 2–4 mass percent using Drycleaned & Agglomerated Precompaction Sys
tem (DAPS). Moisture content is one among the many variables affecting the bulk density of coal blend and
those controlling the coke qualities and yield. Increase in moisture reduces coal grind ability, coking pressure
and internal gas pressure; helps in dust suppression during charging and hence reduces jamming of ascension
pipes and hydraulic main. Batteries charging coals with high moisture content are not troubled with roof car
bon deposits. It was observed that when moisture content in coal blend of SAILBokaro Steel Plant increased
to more than 8.50%, the calorific value of coke oven gas improved. In the working moisture range of 9–11%,
the increase of the yield of coke oven gas per 1% of working moisture is 5.2 m3. Studies have shown, however,
that the increase in moisture content of coal beyond 8% hampers strong coke formation. Precarbonization
preheating process generally showed an increase in the proportion of 40–80 mm coke, compared with wet
charges. For SAIL Bokaro coke ovens, driving out 1% moisture from coal blend requires 125 Megacalories
of heat/oven. With lesser moisture, the emission of NOx in atmosphere will also be low. On using dry to low
moisture coal blend, the swelling of coke mass increases leading to difficulty in oven pushings. Hence, an
optimum level of moisture content of charge coal needs to be maintained for improving coke oven produc
tivity, coke quality and operational smoothness. The coke oven managers all around the globe maintain this
optimum level according to their requirement, the operating conditions, the quality of product and by prod
ucts, the oven health & age and the ease of handling.

Keywords: Coal blend moisture, bulk density, roof carbon deposit, coke oven gas, coke quality, smooth oper
ation

DOI: 10.3103/S1068364X13040030

1 1. INTRODUCTION These quality parameters of coke are dependent on

Coke is one of the most important and expensive
raw materials used in the production of hot metal
through Blast Furnace route. In order to ensure that a
blast furnace can operate stably at a high rate of pro
ductivity and at low cost, it is important for the coke
production process to be able to supply adequate
amounts of coke of uniform quality in a stable manner
and at low cost. The quality parameters of coke are
characterized by its chemical properties (Ash, Mois
ture, Volatile Matter, Fixed carbon), Porosity, Cold
Properties (Micum Indices M10 & M40), Hot Proper
ties (Coke Strength after Reaction, Coke Reactivity
Index). A typical Coke quality at SAIL Bokaro Steel
Plant is presented in Table 1.
1 The article is published in the original.
chemical properties (Ash, VM, Moisture, and Fixed
Carbon), Rheological properties (FSI, LTGK, Fluid
ity) and Rank parameters (Ro, MMR, Vitrinite con
tent etc.) of coal blend along with health of the coke
oven batteries, its operational discipline and heating
regime.
For ease of understanding, the moisture content in
coal blend has been categorized and shown in Table 2.
A typical property of coal blend at SAILBokaro Steel
Plant is presented in Table 3.
The one element that influences the handling of
coal and impacts the operation and efficiency of the
plant is moisture. Moisture content in coal blend is
one of the most important properties whose contribu
tion remains more or less unnoticed. The paper dis
cusses the role of moisture in good quality coke pro
duction and smooth operation in coke oven battery.

126
 COAL BLEND MOISTURE—A BOON OR BANE IN COKEMAKING? 127

Table 1. Typical coke quality at SAILBokaro Steel Plant

Properties Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6
Moisture % 4.85 4.83 5.07 5.01 4.84 4.82
Volatile Matter % 0.76 0.75 0.75 0.76 0.77 0.77
Ash % 16.59 16.63 16.60 16.32 15.27 15.53
M10 % 10.28 10.29 10.19 10.32 10.31 9.74
M40 % 77.58 77.45 77.99 77.95 76.70 77.45
CSR % 65.60 65.26 65.63 63.33 64.00 65.26
CRI % 21.64 21.78 21.80 23.11 22.54 22.23
Porosity % 46.09 46.10 45.96 46.14 46.18 46.15
>80 mm in BF Coke % 13.15 13.46 12.89 12.75 11.05 11.19
<25 mm in BF Coke % 4.54 4.73 4.56 4.37 4.66 4.64

Table 2. Nomenclature of coal blend with varying moisture content

Range of Moisture, % Nomenclature Achieved by
Less than 2% Dry Coal Drycleaned & Agglomerated Pre
compaction System (DAPS)
2 to 6 % Low moisture Coal Coal Moisture Control (CMC)
6 to 9 % Medium moisture Coal Generally Moisture of incoming coals
(except in rainy season)
More than 9 % High moisture Coal Water addition

Compared to other important properties of the coal
blend, moisture can be easily manipulated. The mois
ture content of blend coal can be increased by install
ing a very simple system and with a great degree of
ease. Systems (CMC, DAPS etc.) have also been
developed for reducing moisture in coal blend and are
in practice in many places.
2. DIFFERENT TYPES OF COAL MOISTURE
First of all let us try to understand the definition of
moisture in coal blend. The moisture in coal is charac
terized by the way it is measured. The different ways
are enumerated below [1]:
1. Inherent/ Bed/ Equilibrium/ Capacity/ Analytical
Moisture: It is the water held within the pores and cap
illaries of coal. The Inherent Moisture in coal
decreases with an increase in its rank.
2. Surface/Free Moisture: It is the water held on the
surface of coal.
3. Airdry Loss Moisture: It is the loss in weight of
the coal sample which results from the partial drying of
coal.

Table 3. Typical coal blend properties at SAILBokaro Steel Plant

Properties Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6
Working Moisture % 8.49 8.5 8.6 8.60 8.6 8.49
Volatile Matter % 23.13 23.19 23.26 23.10 23.40 23.34
Ash % 12.68 12.70 12.65 12.34 11.54 11.78
Crushing Index (–3.2 mm) % 82.41 82.39 82.36 82.93 82.57 82.62
<0.5 mm in Blend % 43.43 43.09 43.32 43.27 43.52 43.56
Total Imported Coal % 74.28 75.67 79.86 78.00 77.00 76.67
FSI 5–6.5 5–7 5–6.5 6–6.5 5.5–6 5.5–6
LTGK G3G3 G3G4 G3G4 G3G4 G3G4 G2G3
Maximum Fluidity DDPM 550 466 305 318 246 332

COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013

128 DAS et al.
Table 4. Main specification of CMC equipment
SN Item Description
1. Dryer Indirect heating
rotary dryer type
260 t/h × 1 Set
2. Equipment for heat recovery
1) Coke oven waste gas 1 co: 4.95 × 106 kcal/h
3 co: 55.40 × 106 kcal/h
2) Coke oven gas 1 co: 3.90 × 106 kcal/h
3. Heating furnace 3.95 × 106 kcal/h × 1 set
4. Coal conveyor 1200 t/h × 4 sets
290 t/h × 1 set
5. Bag filter 1165 m3/min × 1 set
4. Residual Moisture: It is that moisture which
remains in the sample after determining the Airdry
Loss Moisture.
5. Total/Asreceived Moisture: It is the loss in weight
of the coal sample under rigidly controlled conditions
of temperature, time and airflow. It is the sum of
Inherent and Free Moisture as well as that of Airdry
Loss Moisture and Residual Moisture. When we cal
culate the percent weight loss till constant weight of 1 g
of a 200 micron sized coal sample taken in a moisture
dish at 108 ± 2°C in an air oven, we get the Total Mois
ture of that coal.
6. Working Moisture: It refers to the percent loss of
weight of coal sample when 200 gms sample (–3.2 mm
size in case of blend coal & –12.5 mm size in case of
individual coals) is heated at 108 ± 20°C in an air oven
for more than 1 hour till constant weight.
7. Decomposition Moisture: It is produced from the
thermal decomposition of organic constituents of
coal.
8. Water of Hydration of Mineral Matter: It is the
water that is present in the crystal lattices of the clay
and inorganic minerals in coal.
3. SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING
COAL BLEND MOISTURE
Maintaining medium to high level moisture in coal
blend is relatively easy. In many cases, the moisture
level of different individual incoming coals is sufficient
to fulfill this objective. Sometimes water is also added,
particularly during summer season, through hose
pipes or sprinklers to increase the moisture level in the
coal blend.
For maintaining moisture in dry to low levels, sys
tems have been developed and incorporated in the
existing systems. These systems are in practice at many
places. The process descriptions of the systems which
reduce moisture in coal blend are outlined below:
3.1. Coal Moisture Control (CMC)
The development of coal moisture control tech
niques utilizing medium to low temperature waste
heat (i.e., the sensible heat of coke oven generated gas
and combustion waste gas) commanded considerable
attention in the coke manufacturing in the years fol
lowing 1975.
The first practical model of CMC equipment uti
lizing waste heat was put in operation in the No. 1 and
No. 2 coke oven batteries of the Oita Works in Septem
ber 1983 [2], and has been operating satisfactorily
since then, recording greater energy savings and
higher coke quality and productivity.
All the coal that has been blended and crushed is
dried continuously under an automatic control system.
The sensible heat recovered from the cokeoven com
bustion waste gas and the gas generated in the ovens as
it moves through the flue and ascension pipe is used by
the dryer to demoisturize the coal. The heat transfer
medium is continuously circulated through the system.
This process is capable of reducing the moisture content
of wet coal (7–11%) to a constant 5%.
Outline of CMC Equipment
The major equipment specifications are shown in
Table 4. The process flow is shown in Fig. 1. Features
of CMC equipment are outlined as follows [3]:
—Considering the effects of dust emission, its
carryover and the amount of recoverable heat, it was
decided to restrict moisture level to 5% and accord
ingly equipment planning was done.
—The sensible heat of combustion waste gas from
coke oven and the gas generated in the coke oven are
recovered using a heat carrying medium (Alkyl di
phenyl) first in the flues and then in the ascension
pipe. Two heat exchangers at waste gas flues and
78 heat exchangers in ascension pipes are installed to
obtain the heat source for reducing the moisture con
tent of 240 t of coal/h from 9% to 5% and the amount
of heat is balanced so that the coal can be dried by the
recovered heat only.
—This heat is utilized at a coal dryer to dry the
total quantity of charging coal after blending and
crushing. The heat carrier is recirculated.
—A highly accurate moisture gauge enables the
moisture content of coal to be controlled to a constant
value by feed forward and feedback control systems.
—One heating furnace is installed to supply heat to
the heat carrying medium to make up for the addi
tional heat requirement when moisture in charging
coal increases during rainfall.
COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013
 COAL BLEND MOISTURE—A BOON OR BANE IN COKEMAKING?
Stack 4
3
Coke oven
5
6
7 195°C
Combustion
waste gas
3
150°C
80°C
Organic heat transfer medium circulation line
Fig. 1. Flow diagram of CMC process. 1⎯Dryer; 2⎯furnace; 3⎯heat exchanger; 4⎯ascension pipe; 5⎯chamber COG;
6⎯COG; 7⎯regenerator.
—A cooler is installed for the heat carrier to con
sume the heat recovered during the stoppage of the
dryer. The ascension pipe heat exchangers are
equipped with a watercooled jacket in order to pre
vent abnormal temperature rise of the heatcarrier
when the pump to circulate the carrier gets out of
order.
Outcome of CMC techniques are increase in pro
ductivity (about 11%) due to increase of bulk density
and decrease of coking time; decrease in heat con
sumption (23–26 Megacalories/tdry coal per 1%
moisture reduction); decrease in the yield of coke
breeze (>2.0%); slight increase in dust carryover.
3.2. DryCleaned and Agglomerated
Precompaction System (DAPS)
Reducing coal moisture below 5% is difficult
because the lower the coal moisture is, the more dust
will be generated. This is because, the quasiparticles
in which coal fines adhere to the coarse particle sur
face collapse due to surface moisture and become
individual particles. This collapse of quasiparticles
proceeds until coal moisture is lowered to the 2% level,
at which level, surface moisture is almost completely
removed. From this result it was judged that fine coal
can be separated by lowering coal moisture to the 2%
level.
However, the lower limit of charging coal moisture
was about 5% using CMC equipment. Nippon Steel
succeeded in developing drycleaned and agglomer
ated precompaction system (DAPS) for lowering the
moisture of charging coal as far as possible. In this sys
COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013
129
(To coke oven)
Moisturecontrolled coal
(Moisture: about 5%)
2
1
15°C
Wet coal
(Moisture: 7–11%)
tem, a coal preparation process was undertaken that
involves separating coal fines, which cause dust gener
ation, from dried charging coal and agglomerating
them. The equipment incorporating this system was
installed in the No. 3 and No. 4 coke batteries at Oita
Works and brought into fullscale operation in Sep
tember 1992 [4]. The equipment has since been oper
ating smoothly.
DAPS Plant Flow
The flow of the DAPS process is shown in Fig. 2.
Nippon Steel developed a largesize (280 tons/ hr.)
single unit for coal drying and classifying.
—A fluidized bed dryer is used for drying and
classifying of coal and a system was devised by which
the coal fines mechanically adhering to coarse grains
are washed off by the action of rubbing of particles
within the fluidized bed.
—A classifying zone in which the coking coal is
classified into fine coal and coarse grain coal is pro
vided in the rear part of the fluidized bed.
—The classified fine coal is collected by a dust col
lector and is fed to a roll compactor, where it is
agglomerated. For the agglomeration of fine coal, the
limit value of compacting force and the maximum
value of grain size of fine coal were set at 2000 kg/cm2
and 0.3 mm, respectively.
—The agglomerated coal is mixed with the coarse
grain coal and fed to the coke oven as DAPS coal for
coking.
It is considered that coke quality is improved in
DAPS owing to the improvement in the bulk density of
130 DAS et al.

Coking coal 1
5
4 9
4
10

11
2
6 12
Air,
MG 3
7 13
14

Agglomerated coal
8

Nos. 3 and 4 coke

oven batteries

Fig. 2. DAPS plant flow in Nippon Steel. 1⎯Coking coal bin; 2⎯dry classifier; 3⎯hotair generation furnace; 4⎯very fine coal;
5⎯bag; 6⎯coarse coal; 7⎯coarse coal hopper; 8⎯DAPS coal bin; 9⎯distribution hopper; 10⎯agglomeration hopper;
11⎯screw feeder; 12⎯agglomerator; 13⎯screen; 14⎯recovery line.

charging coal, which is caused by a decrease in the —Coke shrinkage

moisture of charging coal, and the improvement in —Manufacturing cost of coke
dilatation, which is caused by the agglomeration of
coal fines.
4.1. Bulk Density of Coal Charge
4. EFFECT OF COAL MOISTURE Bulk density and variations in bulk density of
crushed coal can have a significant effect on cokeoven
An ideal moisture distribution is to ensure the qual productivity and coke quality. Moisture content is one
ity of coke, and to achieve the goals of decreasing fuel of the most important parameters among the many
consumption, prolonging the battery life and reducing variables affecting the bulk density of coal blend and
the air pollution. In coke making, the effects of coal those controlling the coke qualities and yield. Bulk
blend moisture which is mainly working moisture can density reaches a maximum for dry coal and decreases
be broadly classified into three categories: to a minimum [5], depending on the size consist of
A. Coal blend characteristics/quality coal, between 6 and 10% moisture, and increases again
—Bulk density of coal charge with further increase in moisture content (Fig. 3). Box
—Grindability of coal charge bulk density plot is shown in Fig. 4 [4].
B. Coke oven operational parameters On an average, the bulk density is 700–780 kg/m3
—Handling factors of dry coal in top charging, and 900–1000 kg/m3 in
stamping operations. A uniform bulk density of the
—Roof carbon deposition coal charged in the ovens results in uniform coke
—Coking pressure strength. For this the moisture in the coal must be uni
—Coke oven gas formation form or oil is to be added to iron out the variations and
—Internal gas/wall pressure characteristics achieve uniformity. Though increase in bulk density of
—Calorific value of coke oven gas coal through moisture addition leads to higher coal
throughput and easier pushing due to less swelling of
—Heat consumption the coal charge, it also requires higher coking time and
C. Coke Characteristics greater heat consumption to form the final coke.
—Coke size The charge density of wet coal is always lower than
—Coke strength that of dry coal. Whatever be the size of the coal parti

COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013

 COAL BLEND MOISTURE—A BOON OR BANE IN COKEMAKING? 131

1000 cles charged in an oven, the bulk density of the coal

charge decreases up to 8–9% moisture content and
then again increases. Hence a balance needs to be
struck for keeping the moisture in charge coal such
1 that all the parameters involved are optimized.
900

4.2. Grindability of Coal Charge

The coals received from different sources needs to
800 2 be blended and grind in a crusher unit to a specific size
Bulk density, kg/m3

before charging inside an oven. The size requirement

for SAILBokaro coal blend is that at least 82% of coal
3 passes through –3.2 mm screen with a minimum gen
eration of microfines (–0.5 mm). The power require
700 ment for grinding depends on the grinding character
istic of individual coal. Increase in moisture reduces
coal grindability for coals of a given rank [7]. This in
4 turn does not allow the coal to be crushed uniformly,
and diminishes coal flowability. This results in belt
600 conveyor transfer chute jamming during coal trans
portation from the hammer crushers to the ovens.

4.3. Handling Factors

500
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Increase of moisture in charge coal increases heat
Moisture content of coal, % loss due to evaporation and superheating of vapor.
Moisture helps in binding fines by surface tension,
thus reducing choking of hatches, through which the
coal is charged into the ovens from the top. Moisture
helps in dust suppression during charging and hence
Fig. 3. Influence of moisture content and particle size on
bulk density. (1) Crushed raw coal, 0–35 mm; (2) coking reduces jamming of gas carrying equipment like
coal, 0–20 mm; (3) coal fines, 0–10 mm; (4) coal fines, ascension pipes and hydraulic main. Vapor generated
0–3 mm. inside oven chamber also aids in convection and radi

820
Dry
Wet

770
Box bulk density,, kg/m3

720

670

620
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Moisture, %

Fig. 4. Effect of moisture content on the bulk density of selected Coal.

COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013

132
1250
d = 0.90
1000
d = 0.85
750
Coking pressure, mbar
500 d = 0.80
250 d = 0.75
d = 0.70
0 The carbon deposition mechanism in the free space
65 70 75 80 85 90
Passing through 2mm screen, %
Fig. 5. Coking pressure as a function of bulk density and
size consist.
ation heat transfer. Excess moisture, however, causes
thermal shock to the refractory brickwork.
The dustiness and flowability of a coal is primarily
affected by the surface moisture of a coal. During dry
season, one of the most effective and cost efficient
means of controlling dust is to use sprinklers to add
surface moisture to the outside of the pile. This addi
tional moisture is applied only to the surface of the
pile, and only when necessary. The total moisture of
the coal is not significantly changed.
During rainy season, fine coals pick up moisture
and become sticky causing handling problems during
unloading at the wagon tipplers. These types of coals
form hard cakes which stick to the sides of the railway
box wagons and have to be poked and hammered out
from them. They also jam the hopper grills and trans
fer chutes of the belt conveyors leading to increase in
manual labor.
4.4. Roof Carbon Deposition
Moisture also affects carbon deposition in the
ovens. The steam formed from the working moisture in
coal creates an oxidizing medium with the highest
reactivity on contact with the incandescent surface of
carbon deposits on the walls. Hence carbon deposition
on the oven roofs is much more than on the walls.
However, roof carbon problems are much more in
coke oven batteries [8] without flared tops i.e. closed
ascension pipe caps during charging, as compared to
DAS et al.
those with flared ones. It is noteworthy that coke oven
batteries charging coals with high moisture content are
not troubled with roof carbon deposits.
The reasons why the carbon deposits increase when
the moisture content in the coal charged is low would
be that [9]:
—Increase in carbonization gases as the amount of
coal charge becomes larger,
—Lowering of the dilution effect of carbonization
gases by water molecules, and
—Rise in temperature at free space because the
temperature of coal charged with less moisture
becomes higher than that of wet coal charge.
On the other hand, Krebs et al. [10] suggested that
coal fines have a relation with the carbon deposition in
the coke oven chamber. The carryover fines (materials
of <100 μm in particle size derived from coal) are
thought to increase on account of lowering the mois
ture content.
95 of coke oven chambers [9] has been studied under CMC
operation by the actual oven measurements. Average
coal moisture contents were 6.3 mass percent in CMC
operation and 9.1 mass percent in Wet Coal. It was
found that the amount of carbon deposits in CMC
operation increases by as much as 45–75 mass percent
compared with those in wet coal operation. The
majority of the deposits at the initial stage of the car
bonization were derived from the carryover fines. It
was also found that the carbon deposits on the base
portion of an ascension pipe in CMC operation con
tained approximately 20 mass percent of materials
derived from carryover fines. The influence of volatile
matter on the carbon deposits in CMC operation was
greater than that in wet coal operation.
4.5. Coking Pressure
For ensuring the quality of coke produced, the cok
ing coal must have a certain swelling and shrinkage
behavior. As discussed earlier, the bulk density of coal
charge depends on moisture content and particle size.
The maximum coking pressure can be decreased [5]
considerably by decreasing the bulk density and by fine
grinding of coal (Fig. 5).
During coal carbonization in a coke oven chamber
[11], the swelling of molten coal causes a load called
‘coking pressure’ on oven walls. Since excessive coking
pressure increases the force needed for coke cake
pushing and in some cases leads to operational prob
lems such as hard pushes or ‘stickers’ causing wall
damage, one of the most important aspects of the coke
making process is to control and reduce the coking
pressure. With this in mind, Nippon Steel has devel
oped dry coalcharging processes for coke making,
such as CMC and DAPS. With the coal moisture being
reduced to 5–6 mass percent using CMC and 2–
4 mass percent using DAPS, the advantages of less
COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013
 COAL BLEND MOISTURE—A BOON OR BANE IN COKEMAKING?
heat consumption for carbonization, higher produc
tivity, and better coke quality were gained. Since a
decrease in coal moisture leads to an increase in coal
bulk density in the coke oven chamber, which
increases coking pressure to a great extent, it is quite
important to precisely control the coal moisture dur
ing the dry coal charging processes so as to avoid wall
damage.
4.6. Coke Oven Gas Formation
A mechanism of the gaseous reaction taking place
inside coke oven proposed by Zubilin IG et al. [12]
states that during the initial 2–3 hrs of the coking
period, the carbon layer on the hightemperature sur
face of the brickwork and in its porous structure inside
a coke oven on contact with the steamoxidant creates
a thermodynamically caused reaction zone of steam
gasification of carbon deposits according to the fol
lowing reaction:
C + H2Ovap CO + H2 (t ≥ 900–1100°C).
The mechanism was fully explained as the escaping
dry cokeoven gas is pyrolyzed with deposition of car
bon in the porous bulk of heating chamber walls and
the hydrogen evolved is completely burned in the heat
ing system to form steam (H2O). Afterwards, the oxi
dative steam gasification of the carbon deposit in the
porous volume of the walls leads to formation of
Hydrogen and additional Carbon monoxide with their
subsequent combustion in the firing system to form
Water vapor and Carbon dioxide. This result in
increase of the volumes of cokeoven gas (particularly
CO and H2) produced with increasing moisture of the
coal blend coked.
The monograph of Kustov characterizes the rela
tionship between the increase of the yield of cokeoven
gas and the increase of the moisture of the coal blend
being carbonized. On coking moist coal blends (up to
Working Moisture = 11%) under industrial conditions
the increase of the yield of cokeoven gas, due to the
gasification of carbon by the convertible working
moisture of the coal blend to Carbon monooxide and
Hydrogen is ≤28 m3/metric ton of moist coal blend
(i.e., 2.5–2.8 m3 per 1% of working moisture). In the
working moisture range of 9–11%, the increase of the
yield of coke oven gas per 1% of working moisture is
5.2 m3. On increasing working moisture of the coal
blend (>11%), the growth of the yield of additional
volumes of cokeoven gas stops. The author opined
that this could be due to the attainment of the critical
mass of coal blend moisture which, with respect to
energy consumption for gasification, is comparable
with the amount of heat accumulated by the brickwork
of the heating wall, which is required for its vaporiza
tion, overheating and providing the endothermic
effect of its conversion reaction, and with the decrease
of the wall surface temperature (<700°C).
COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013
133
4.7. Internal Gas/Wall Pressure Characteristics
A study was carried out by Lee WJ and Lee YK [13]
to assess the influence of coal blend moisture on inter
nal gas pressure. In the study, carbonization tests for
various kinds of single coals and coal blends were car
ried out with varying operating conditions in a mov
able wall test coke oven to investigate the coking pres
sure behavior. Internal gas pressure and corresponding
temperature at coal charge center were measured.
Effects of blending ratio of coal, coal moisture con
tent, and heating wall temperature on internal gas
pressure were also assessed. It was observed that the
internal gas pressure of single coals increased with an
increase of coking capacity and a decrease of volatile
matter. It was also found that the internal gas pressure
characteristics for coal blends mainly depend on the
blending ratio of a given coal and exponentially
increase with decrease in moisture content. Further, it
tends to decrease with an increase in heating wall tem
perature.
In one of the study carried out to find out the rela
tionship between coking pressure and coal moisture,
the results showed that when the American Beckley
coal was charged wet, the heating wall gives way maxi
mally 14 mm to the coking pressure [14]. When pre
heated coal is charged, the deformation increases to
55 mm. In another study, evaluated on six meter coke
oven battery [15], it seemed that the optimum (low
coking pressure) occurs in the 4–6% moisture range.
Above and below this range coking pressure increases.
4.8. Calorific Value of Coke Oven Gas
It was observed that during rainy season when
moisture content in coal blend of SAILBokaro Steel
Plant increases to more than 8.50%, the calorific value
(CV) of coke oven gas improves. A plot of calorific
value with moisture in coal blend (Fig. 6) shows a
strong correlation.
CV = 184.4 Moisture + 2456.6, R2 = 0.8328.
On careful examination of data, it was found that
content of methane (CH4) in coke oven gas had
increased leading to an increase in the calorific value
of Coke Oven gas. This may be due to the fact that
escaping vapor forms a protective film over the meth
ane molecule present in coke oven gas thereby pre
venting its conversion into Carbon monooxide, Car
bon dioxide and hydrogen.
4.9. Heat Consumption
With coal moisture control equipment at Chiba
Works [16], it was observed that the reduction of
charging coal moisture down to a level of 6.0% leads to
a reduction in heat consumption to approximately
74 Megacalories/ ton of coal. With the coal quality
having 97% Ro, r (Random Reflectance) and 70%
Maximum fluidity of the base/ original blend, the
134
4080
4060
CV of CO gas, kcal/m3
CV = 184.8 moisture + 2456.6
R2 = 0.8328
4040
4020
4000
3980
8.3
Fig. 6. Variation in calorific value of coke oven gas with moisture.
same level of coke strength was achieved employing
CMC techniques. In another study, waste heat was
recovered and utilized to reduce the moisture content
of coal to 4% and saving of 80 Megacalories heat/ton
of coal was reported [17].
For SAILBokaro coke ovens, driving out 1%
moisture from coal requires 125 Megacalories of
heat/ ovens. This needs a supply of 31 m3 of Coke
Oven Gas. On monetizing, this is equivalent to INR
9.5 million/ annum towards energy cost. With lesser
moisture, the emission of NOx in atmosphere will also
be low owing to the less requirement of heating gas.
4.10. Coke Size
The study of British Coke Research Association
(BCRA) showed [18] that the size of coke produced
from a high volatile (VMdaf – 28 to 37%) coal was
unaffected by moisture content in the range of 2–
14%. The result was corroborated in a commercial
coke oven carbonization with blend moisture content
of 3–11.5%. However, when one blend dried from 12.5
to 5% moisture, decrease in mean size from 64 to
57 mm was observed. The general conclusion from
BCRA’s large scale trials was that preheating of the
charge had no effect on coke size for a representative
range of British coals.
A test oven study in West Germany with coals of 20
and 30% Volatile Matter content, found that the pro
portions of >100 and >80 mm coke decreased when
the charge was dried or preheated. With the higher vol
atile matter coal, the >100 mm content was 45% for a
wet charge but 25% after preheating. Preheating was
found to increases coke mean size by 3–6 mm for coal
blends from the USA, but it did not affect the mean
size for a Polish good coking blend. In commercial
practice at Orgreave coking plant, preheating was
reported to have practically no effect on the mean size
or the >75, >50 and >25 mm contents of the coke.
DAS et al.
8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7
Moisture in coal blend, %
Bergbau–Forschung’s development of the pre
carbon preheating process, reported in several
papers, generally showed an increase in the propor
tion of 40–80 mm coke, compared with wet charges.
Similar results have been announced from the use of
the precarbon process in the USA and by INCAR in
Spain [15].
Thus, a decrease in the moisture content increases
the coke mean size in certain cases.
4.11. Coke Strength
The prerequisite of a strong coke is a thick plastic
layer of 20 mm or more during coal to coke transfor
mation in the slot type ovens [19]. Further, in good
coking coal blends the plastic range of each coking
coal component overlap to form an extended plastic
range with a resolidification temperature in excess of
475°C. These coals should also have high thermal dif
fusivity to form better coke since the strength of coke
is increased to the most significant levels during the
final conversion of semicoke to coke at temperatures
of 1000°C.
The plastic layer progresses from the sides nearest
the oven wall to the middle driving out the moisture in
the coal before it, which condenses in the middle at a
temperature of 100°C. Studies have shown that the
increase in moisture content of coal beyond 8%
decreases the plastic layer thickness and consequently
hampers strong coke formation. Increase in the mois
ture content of coal decreases the heating rate in the
range of 300 to 500°C, resulting in thinner plastic layer
thickness and lesser swelling. Additionally, the tem
perature gradient in the vicinity of the resolidification
temperature becomes steeper resulting in increased
fissuring of the coke formed [20].
COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013
 COAL BLEND MOISTURE—A BOON OR BANE IN COKEMAKING?
4.12. Coke Shrinkage/Swelling
For dry to low moisture content coal blend, the
bulk density of coal remains very high. Due to higher
bulk density, the swelling of coke mass increases [2].
This reduces the shrinkage of coke and leads to more
pressure in the coke oven battery wall and difficulty in
oven pushings.
4.13. Manufacturing Cost of Coke
In order to reduce the manufacturing cost of coke,
it is necessary to reduce mainly [4]
—Material cost and
—Operating cost.
Both of these costs can be reduced by lowering the
moisture of charging coal. Because dust generation
increases with decreasing moisture of charging coal,
however, the lower limit of charging coal moisture was
about 5%, which yielded good results in CMC. DAPS
was successfully developed and incorporated by Nip
pon Steel for lowering the moisture of charging coal as
least as possible (around 2%). In this system, fines
were separated from dried charging coal and agglom
erated in a separate unit.
It was found that the productivity of DAPS is 21%
higher than that of the ordinary charging method, the
coke quality of DAPS was +5.6 points better in terms
of CSR, and a 15% energy saving was achieved. Fur
thermore, because of the improvement in coke quality,
larger amounts of low cost coals (Semicoking or
Noncoking coal) can be used. Hence, the total man
ufacturing cost can be reduced to the tune of 8–11%.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The one element that influences the handling of
coal and impacts the operation and efficiency of the
plant is moisture. Compared to other important prop
erties of coal blend, moisture can easily be manipu
lated. The optimum level of moisture content of
charge coal improves the coke oven productivity, coke
quality and operation smoothness.
—The coal moisture can be reduced to 5–6 mass
percent using CMC and 2–4 mass percent using DAPS.
—Moisture content affects the bulk density of coal
blend and hence coke qualities and yield.
—Increase in moisture reduces coal grindability,
coking pressure and internal gas pressure.
—Increase in coal blend moisture helps in dust
suppression during charging and hence reduces jam
ming of gas carrying equipment like ascension pipes
and hydraulic main.
—Batteries charging coals with high moisture con
tent are not troubled with roof carbon deposits.
—It was observed that during rainy season when
moisture content in coal blend of SAIL–Bokaro
COKE AND CHEMISTRY Vol. 56 No. 4 2013
135
increases to more than 8.50%, the calorific value of
coke oven gas improved.
—In the working moisture range of 9–11%, the
increase of the yield of coke oven gas per 1% of work
ing moisture is 5.2 m3.
—Studies have shown that the increase in moisture
content of coal beyond 8% decreases the plastic layer
thickness and consequently hampers strong coke for
mation.
—Precarbonization preheating process, reported
in several papers, generally showed an increase in the
proportion of 40–80 mm size coke, compared with
wet charges.
—For SAILBokaro coke ovens, driving out 1%
moisture from coal requires 125 Megacalories heat/
oven. This is equivalent to INR 9.5 million/ annum
towards energy cost.
—With lesser moisture, the emission of NOx will
also be low.
—On using dry to low moisture coal blend, the
swelling of coke mass increases; reducing the shrink
age of coke and leading to difficulty in oven pushings.
—Using DAPS, total manufacturing cost can be
reduced to the tune of 8–11%.
The coke oven managers all around the globe try to
maintain this optimum level according to their
requirement, the operating conditions, and the quality
of product and by products, the oven health & age and
the ease of handling. It is important, therefore, to
select the moisture content at such a level that provides
the greatest economic benefit evaluated by consider
ing the air pollution, recovered energy, and other
expected effects.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Authors are grateful to management of SAILRDCIS
and SAILBSL specially Sri B.P. Roy, GM RDCIS
Bokaro Centre; Sri M.P. Reddy, GM (Coal &
Energy)—RDCIS Ranchi; Sri S. Pal, GM (Quality),
Bokaro Steel Plant and Sri B.P. Verma, GM & In
charge (Coke Oven & By Product), Bokaro Steel Plant
for providing necessary trigger and impetus in writing
the paper. Authors are also thankful to Late Sri Pras
hant Gupta, ExManger, RDCIS Bokaro Centre for
providing some useful articles related to the topic.
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