OREANDA-NEWS. December 27, 2010. American Coke-Chemical Engineers Share Their Experience Koks is studying the possibilities for boosting production by building next-generation batteries. Sergey Dyakov, Managing Director at Koks, and Head Engineer Boris Bulaevsky visited the American factory of Sun Coke Energy.

The aim of the visit was to learn about the latest technology for producing coke without the capture The question of building a compact unit for producing coke without capturing the chemical products of coking has arisen in connection with the planned reconstruction of coke batteries Nos. 4 and 5. Preliminary calculations have shown that without commissioning additional capacity, the factory could lose up to 1/3 of coke production volume and, as a result, could yield the position it currently holds on the metallurgical market for several years. In recent years, coke furnaces that operate without capturing the chemical products of coking have acquired increasingly greater popularity among coke producers. Presently, they are being used successfully in India, China, Australia, Colombia, and the US. In essence, these coke furnaces are not a completely new development. The long-familiar principal of the beehive coke furnace served as the foundation for the new furnaces.

By combining modern manufacturing techniques with existing technologies, coke furnaces were created that are productive, energy-efficient and environmentally safe. Sun Coke Energy, an American factory, is a young business that happens to operate the modern furnaces that run without capturing the chemical products of coking. The first coke production block was launched just five years ago, and the second three years ago. The total production capacity of the coke batteries at Sun Coke Energy is 1 million 1 thousand tonnes of coke per year.

These coke batteries consume less furnace feed. The coking process does not entail the formation of products requiring further processing. The level of emissions during furnace feed loading and coke discharge is very low. In addition, this technology makes it possible to direct the heat generated in the coke furnaces towards the production of steam and electric power. Koks management is now reviewing the possibility of fast-tracking the construction of this kind of coke battery at its factory.