CokeData

Cement
Kilns

FiringSystems

CoalData

OilData

GasData

WasteFuel
Data

Coalderivedcokewasthefuelusedinmoststatickilnsandsowasthe
dominantfuelinthecementindustryinthenineteenthcentury.Coalcouldnot
beusedinstatickilnsinwhichthefuelisfedinwiththerawmaterial,mainly
because,duringthegradualheatupofthecharge,thefuel'svolatilesarelost
withoutignition,sowastinguptohalfthefuel'scalorificvalue.Burningcoalalso
hadlessloadbearingstrengththancoke,causingthechargetocollapseand
"choke".
Inrecentyears,petroleumcokehasbecomeamajorfuelintheindustry.
Becausetheyareproducedbysimilarprocesses,theyaretreatedtogetherhere.
Bothcanhavequiteawidecompositionrange,dependingontheprocess
producingthem,andtheirintendedenduse.

CokefromCoal
Thecokeproducedfromcoalwasoneofthemajorcommoditiesofthe
IndustrialRevolution,comingtoprominencewiththeinventionbyAbraham
Darbyofthecokefiredblastfurnace.Subsequently,thedevelopmentofthe
coalgassupplyindustryinthenineteenthcenturygreatlyincreasedtheamount
ofcokeproduced.Thecommonfeatureofthesematerialsistheirproductionby
heatingcoalina"retort",intheabsenceofair.Coalconsistsofawidevariety
ofchemicalstructures,theamountofeachdependingonitsrank.Thereare
fusedcyclicstructures,mainlyaromatic,butsomealicyclic,fromwhichbranch
aliphaticchainsofvaryinglengths.Onpyrolysis,thecyclicstructuresbecome
progressivelyaromatizedbydehydrogenation,andthesidechainsarecracked
off.Duetoinleakageofair,acertainamountofoxidationmaytakeplace.
Derivingasitdoesfromorganicmaterial,coalcontainsasignificantamountof
oxygen,andfairlyconstantsmallamountsofsulfurandnitrogen.(Sulfurmay
alsobepresentassulfateorpyriteinthemineralmatter.)These"heteroatoms"
maybeincorporatedintotheringstructures,ormaybepresentinsidechainsin
theformofhydroxy,keto,aminoorthiolgroups.Onlightpyrolysis,theside
chainatomsareremoved,buttheringheteroatomsmayremaininplace.
Thelattereffectbringsoutthedistinctionbetween"metallurgical"cokeandthe
cokeproducedbythegasindustry.Metallurgicalcokeneededtohavelowlevels
ofsulfurandnitrogen,andsowassubjecttohightemperaturesforalongtime

toallowtheheteroatomstorearrangeoutofthestructure,theresultbeing
closeincompositiontoanamorphousgraphite.Inthegasindustry,however,
thecokewasthebyproduct,andtheeconomicsofgasproductiondependedon
heatingthecoalonlytothepointwherethediminishingyieldofgasnolonger
justifiedfurtherheattreatment.Theresultwasacokewhichstillcontained
somevolatilematter,andsignificantamountsofsulfurandnitrogen.Thiswas
thecokeusedbythecementindustry,andtherewasadistinctsymbiosis
betweenthetwoindustries.Britain'smostconcentratedcentreofgasproduction
inearlytimeswasLondon,firstforstreetlighting,andthenonamassivescale
fordomesticuse.Withnoheavyindustrytoabsorbthecoke,itwasvirtuallya
wasteproduct,anditsreadyavailabilityatlowpricewasakeyinfluenceupon
theconcentrationofthecementindustryinthesoutheast.Somelargercement
manufacturers(e.g.White'sandBevans)protectedcokesuppliesbysettingup
theirowngasplants,usingthewasteheatfromtheretortsforslurrydryingand
sellingonsurplusgasinthelocality.
Thecementindustrywasfurtheraffectedbythematuringofthegasindustry.
Gasproductionlevelledoffascompetingformsofenergy,particularlyelectricity,
arrivedonthescene,andproducersbecamemorecostconscious.Theproducer
gas/watergasprocesswasincreasinglyusedtoimprovegasyields,andthis
consumedcoke.Otherindustrialusesforcokearose,anditwasnolongera
wastematerial,resultingindramaticrisesinpricestowardstheendofthe
nineteenthcentury.ContinentalcompetitorsforthetransAtlanticcementexport
marketwerebetterabletocopewiththisbecausetheirindustrieshadalways
beenmuchlessprofligatewithfuel.Themovetotheuseofrotarykilns,despite
thepainfulreadjustmentsinworkingmethodsthattheydemanded,anddespite
theirpoorenergyefficiencycomparedwithshaftkilns,tookplacebecausethey
werefiredwithcoal,whichwasstillcheapinBritain.Theresultwasarapid
diminutionintheuseofcokeinthefirsttwodecadesofthetwentiethcentury,
althoughafewstatickilnscontinuedtouseituntilthelate1960s.

PetroleumCoke
Cokefrompetroleum("petcoke")isentirelyanalogous.Itsimportancehasrisen
asoilhassupplantedcoalasanenergysource,andastherisingpriceofcrude
oilhasdemandedahigherrecoveryofhighvaluefractionsfromtheraw
material.Therefiningofoilintheearlydaysbydistillationandcracking
proceededuntiltheresiduewasattheheavyfueloilstage,andthelattercould
besoldonasfuelatareasonableprice.However,heavyfueloilcanbefurther
treated,tothepointwhereasolidproductremains.Thismaytaketheformofa
friablefinelyporouslumpmaterial,orasnodularbeads,dependingonthe
process.Thechemistryofproductionisnotdissimilartothatfromcoal,and
similarly,thedegreeofrefinementtowardspurecarbondependsuponthe
economicsoftheenduse.Calcinedpetroleumcoke,producedinarotarykiln,is
usedtomakeanodesforelectrochemicalfurnacesinthealuminium,titanium
andsteelindustries.Thenormal"green"cokeisusedasafuel,whereitcanbe

moreconvenienttousethanfueloilbecauseitspropertiesaresufficiently
similartothoseofcoalthatcoal/petcokemixturescanbeusedinpower
generationorcementmanufactureinwhateverproportionsdesiredwithout
majormodificationstoplant.
Petcokediffersfromcoalmostobviouslyinitsalmosttotallackofashandits
relativelyhighsulfurcontent.Whilethelatterisasignificantproblemforpower
generators,itcanbelesssoforcementmanufacturersbecausethealkaline
conditionsinapreheaterscrubSO2outoftheexhaustgas.However,thereisa
distincttrendtowardstheinstallationofseparateSO2scrubberunits.Petcoke
differsalsointhatitistoughertogrind,andthereisatrendtowardstheuseof
moresophisticatedfuelgrindingcircuitstocopewiththis.Despitethese
problems,cementkilnshavebeenrunonpurepetcoke,anda50:50
coal:petcokemixisafairlynormalfuelmixnowadays.Theincreaseintheuse
ofpetcokehasofcoursebeenduetothefactthat"green"cokewithmetals
contentstoohighforelectrochemicalusebecamealowcostwastebyproduct.
However,afuelthatistodayuniversallyusedisnolongerawaste,andprices,
compoundedwiththevolatilityofthecrudeoilprice,necessarilytrendupwards,
souseagewillnecessarilypeakandfall.

The"typical"valueistheaveragevalueforthosecokeshavingNettCVvalues
betweenthe10percentileandthe90percentile.Therangeisthe10percentile
and90percentilevalueforeachparameter.Theelementalanalysesare%by
mass.Thecombustionairusedhas50%humidityat20C(seecomposition).
"Gross"calorificvalueisotherwiseknownasUpperHeatingValue."Nett"
calorificvalueisotherwiseknownasLowerHeatingValue.
Cokefrom
Coal

Petroleum
Coke

typical range typical range

C

89.55

8293

88.80

85.7
90.5

0.79

0.69
0.90

4.05

3.7
4.3

1.31

0.7
1.8

3.95

2.2
5.7

1.04

0.8
1.3

1.32

0.4
2.0

1.42

0.8
1.8

1.24

0.4
3.2

Ash

7.02

219

0.63

01.1

Volatile
Matter

3.27

2.9
3.6

11.19

9.8
12.8

GrossMJ.kg1 30.41

28.0
31.7

35.03

33.9
35.8

NettMJ.kg1

27.8
31.5

34.15

33.1
34.9

30.23

Stoichiometric
10.636
Airkg/kg

9.8
11.1

11.796

11.3
12.0

Stoichiometric
351.3
351.81
345.42
Airkg/GJ
352.5

343
347

CO2produced
3.281
kg/kg

3.254

3.14
3.31

CO2produced
108.2
108.54
95.28
108.8
kg/GJ

94.2
96.3

3.01
3.42

FiringSystems

CoalData

OilData
DylanMoore2011

GasData

WasteFuel
Data