Coking component

Abstract

A coking component consisting essentially of a mixture of 10 to 60 percent of finely ground coke and at least one carbon-containing substance selected from coking coal, non-coking coal, petroleum coke, semi-coke or lignite. The carbon-containing substance has a particle size which is approximately 90 percent below three millimeters. The coking component is easier to transport than coke dust and increases the fixed carbon content of the coking mixture. The coking component is then mixed with coal and the so formed coking mixture is coked. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 214,450, filed Dec. 30, 1971, now abandoned. (1) Field to which the invention relates. The invention relates to a coking component which is easy to transport and has an increased fixed carbon content. It is known to add 10-12 % coke dust to coal blends to be coked in order to improve the mechanical strength properties of the coke to be produced, this being a particularly desirable way to reduce the volatiles in the case where coals with more than 25 % volatiles are coked. It makes no difference in the improvement obtained to add coke dust to the same type raw material from which the coke dust was produced. (2) The prior art The coke dust added in the prior art to the blends to be coked is ground in the coking plant itself. The coking plants have to be specially equipped to do this. Transportation of the coke dust inside the coking plant onto the blending equipment for preparing the coke oven blend is done pneumatically, in bags or silo cars, which again necessitates special equipment. Finally, storing the coke dust and proportioning it when blending it with the coke oven blend creates further difficulties. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instant aim of the invention is to make the use of coke dust in blends to be coked more economical and to reduce or eliminate as much as possible the difficulties in working with coke dust. According to the instant invention this can be achieved by producing a coking component consisting essentially of a mixture of finely ground coke and a carbon containing substance having a size composition similar to the size composition of fine coal. By carbon containing substance is meant a substance consisting mainly of carbon and capable of being converted into coke in a process of coking. For instance the carbon containing substance can be any type of coal or raw petroleum coke. The significance of this is: If one produces the finely ground coke before transportation, this has the double advantage on one hand of a weight reduction both of the amount of volatiles and the humidity of the mixture to be transported, and on the other side of the fact that this commodity contains considerably more fixed carbon per volume unit than regular coal, fixed carbon being the substance which counts in coking. One cubic meter of coke dust contains about 0.62 tons of fixed carbon including ash whereas coal used for coking with a volume weight of, for example, 0.72 tons per cubicmeter and about 22 % volatiles and 10 % moisture, contains only 0.52 tons of fixed carbon including ash per cubic meter. These advantages of coke dust during handling can however not be easily exploited, since the coke dust generates dust and behaves like a liquid and thus creates considerable difficulties in connection with proportioning, storage, transportation etc. However if one mixes the coke dust as explained by this invention with a carbon containing substance, for instance, a fine coal, the undesirable properties of the coke dust do not appear anymore as such, and one obtains a mixture that handles normally and without difficulty. It is an essential part of the instant invention that the carbon containing substance used to produce the mixture must have a size composition similar to the size composition of fine coal. As a matter of fact only then can carbon containing substances bind the finely ground coke in such a way that the final product maintains its shape and no segregation occurs during the various handling and transportation operations, especially unloading and reloading. The volume weight of the mixture in accordance with this invention is about the same as that of the said carbon containing substance. It thus exceeds the arithmetical average of the volume weights of the carbon containing substance and the coke dust so that the above-mentioned advantages of the coke dust are not only preserved in the mixture but there also occurs an additional increase in density due to a filling effect of the finely ground coke dust in connection with the carbon containing substance. In other words, by applying the instant invention to a coal destined for coking in a coke oven, which coal heretofore has used up in all respects full transport space, the inventive weight is reduced by preliminary coking and the transport volume required is reduced by fine grinding and mixing the finely ground coke with the carbon containing substance. In addition, the coking component in accordance with the invention, including of the carbon containing substance and finely ground coke, can be transported without difficulty using the regular conveying equipment available in the respective plant. It can be stored in silos without difficulty and proportioning it for blending in view of preparing a coke oven charge does not present a problem. Blending the coking component according to the invention with the other regular components to constitute the coke oven input blend is then done in the usual way.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.