Development of a new laboratory-scale method for the determination of coke mechanical strength

This work is focused towards the development of a laboratory-scale method for the evaluation of the cold mechanical strength of blast-furnace coke from the point of view of cohesion and abrasion. The indices derived from this test, CS10 and CS1, are defined as the weight per cent of coke with a particle size >10 and <1 min, respectively, after 1200 revolutions at 20 rpm in a tumbler. The initial amount of coke was 200 g and the particle size 19-22.4 mm. A close relationship was found between the new indices and those derived from the standardized IRSID test, 120 and 110, used by the steel industry in the evaluation of blast-furnace cokes. The cokes used were produced at pilot scale in a movable wall oven of 250 kg capacity, using single coals and coking blends. The method developed is based on the use of the same tumbler described for the evaluation of mechanical strength after reaction with carbon dioxide in the NSC method. From the results presented, it is deduced that this method can be used to assess cokes produced in smaller ovens, where the amount obtained is not enough to be able to carry out the standardized tests that require a larger amount of coke sample.