Browse terms related to these fuel groups:alternative fuels|coal|electricity|natural gas|nuclear|petroleum|renewable
Coke (coal): A solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal from which the volatile constituents are driven off by baking in an oven at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit so that the fixed carbon and residual ash are fused together. Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Coke from coal is grey, hard, and porous and has a heating value of 24.8 million Btu per ton.
Coke (petroleum): A residue high in carbon content and low in hydrogen that is the final product of thermal decomposition in the condensation process in cracking. This product is reported as marketable coke or catalyst coke. The conversion is 5 barrels (of 42 U.S. gallons each) per short ton.
Coke Battery: A series of coke ovens stacked in rows into which coal is loaded and processed into coke.
Coke breeze: The term refers to the fine sizes of coke, usually less than one-half inch, that are recovered from coke plants. It is commonly used for sintering iron ore.
Coke button: A button-shaped piece of coke resulting from standard laboratory tests that indicates the coking or free-swelling characteristics of a coal; expressed in numbers and compared with a standard.
Coke Oven: A chamber of brick or other heat-resistant material in which coal is heated to separate the coal gas, coal water, and tar. The coal gas and coal water fuse together with carbon and the remaining ash, forming a hard residue commonly referred to as coke. Coke is primarily used in steel production. There are two types of coke ovens: (1) beehive ovens, which were originally built round with a spherical top like an old-fashioned beehive, and have an opening in the top and various small openings for draft at the base. The ovens were developed into banks (rows) of joining cubicles. During the heating process of the coal, tar, gas, and other byproducts are lost. (2) Byproduct ovens, which were built in rectangular form with the front and back removable, and which are arranged so that all volatile byproducts can be pumped out.
Coke oven gas: The mixture of permanent gases produced by the carbonization of coal in a coke oven at temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees Celsius.
Coke plants: Plants where coal is carbonized for the manufacture of coke in slot or beehive ovens.