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Germany - The Standardized Pressed Coke Briquettes are a High-Quality Alternative to Foundry Coke

Lesedauer: min

ESSEN - LSR, a subsidiary of Rheinbraun Brennstoff GmbH (RBB) for specialized carbon products, has expanded its extensive product range to include a further innovative product. As of now, the Essen-based company also sells pressed <link _top>coke <link _top>briquettes, which may be used as a high-quality substitute fuel for the relatively expensive <link _top>foundry coke.

The tense situation on the international commodity markets has already lead to a sharp increase in prices - inter alia of <link _top>pig iron and <link _top>foundry coke - in recent years. In addition, their procurement is becoming increasingly difficult due to the economic upswing seen in threshold countries such as China and India. <link _top>Foundries therefore take a keen interest in alternative feedstock.

The <link _top>coke <link _top>briquettes are produced from <link _top>coke breeze using a modified calcareous sandstone production technique. But in this case, fine <link _top>coke in conjunction with quartz powder and <link _top>lime is used instead of <link _top>quartz sand. The pressed <link _top>coke may be supplied in three standard sizes and is available both in loose form and as palletized, heat-sealed merchandise.

The Institute of <link _top>Casting Technology (IfG) in Düsseldorf has tested pressed <link _top>coke and <link _top>foundry coke with regard to their <link _top>combustion behaviour and analyzed the properties of the <link _top>cast iron produced in this way within the scope of an investigation project on the use of "alternative feedstock in <link _top>cupola furnaces". It arrives at the conclusion that pressed <link _top>coke is generally suitable for use in <link _top>cupola furnaces as a substitute for <link _top>foundry coke.

Both the trough-shaped iron and <link _top>blast pressure as well as <link _top>carbon and <link _top>silicon contents remain within the admissible fluctuation range. Slagging behaviour and the <link _top>sulphur and titanium contents of the <link _top>iron also remain virtually unchanged after pressed <link _top>coke is added; the same applies to <link _top>tensile strength and <link _top>Brinell hardness. Nor could any significant change in odour emissions be detected by means of an olfactometry analysis.

Merely <link _top>phosphorus contents rose as substitution quantity increased, but this can be attributed to fluctuating phosphorus portions of the cast scrap in conjunction with the high overall phosphorus contents of the <link _top>pig iron.

Pressed <link _top>coke has further advantages. On the one hand, the addition of <link _top>lime is no longer necessary, since it is already contained in the pressed <link _top>coke as a binding agent. On the other, admixtures of iron dust, iron grit or fine shavings are possible, as are <link _top>admixtures of <link _top>nickel, <link _top>chromium, <link _top>molybdenum, <link _top>vanadium or <link _top>titanium, which may be added to the <link _top>cast iron as alloying constituents in this way.

All in all, pressed <link _top>coke is an interesting alternative to <link _top>foundry coke and in view of the price difference offers essential competitive advantages that provide <link _top>foundries and their customers likewise with a solution to the commodity crisis.

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