The sustainable supply of raw materials and an innovative method of testing metallurgical coal blends

Coke production is a strategic branch of the Polish, European and global economy. Economic growth is linked to the demand for high steel products, which is also connected to higher coke production. A sustainable supply of raw materials – like metallurgical coal – requires balanced, cost effective and environmentally friendly mining, to provide the best quality of coal and coke. There are various types of steelmaking coals mined in Poland (in the Upper Silesia Coal Basin), thus laboratory tests on extracted coals need to be undertaken in order to create safe mixtures of coals (coal blends) which will be processed in the blast furnace. With this mind a new tool – the safety calculation model – has been developed and implemented by the CLP-B Laboratory. This new approach taken by the laboratory is a multi-component analysis which assesses the possible risk associated with the transformation of coal blends during the coking process in the furnace. The new calculation model allows for the sustainable management of raw materials such as coking (steelmaking) coals – to produce the best quality of coke in safe conditions. In the new proposed formula, the parameters identified as critical ones for assessing the safety of the furnace feed, are moisture, ash and sulphur content, volatile matter, pressure expansion, dilatation, shrinkage, volume, CRI and CSR.