The Standardized Pressed Coke Briquettes Offered By LSR are a High-Quality Alternative to Foundry Coke

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 coke briquettes, which may be used as a high-quality substitute fuel for the relatively expensive foundry coke.

The tense situation on the international commodity markets has already lead to a sharp increase in prices – inter alia of pig iron and 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. Foundries therefore take a keen interest in alternative feedstock.

The coke briquettes offered by LSR and manufactured by the company KCP GmbH & Co. KG is produced from coke breeze using a modified calcareous sandstone production technique. But in this case, fine coke in conjunction with quartz powder and lime is used instead of quartz sand. The pressed coke may be supplied in three standard sizes and is available both in loose form and as palletized, heat-sealed merchandise.

No essential differences when used as a fuel in cupola furnaces

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

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

Merely 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 pig iron.

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

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

For further information, please visit the LSR website at http://www.lsr-essen.de.