Energies, Vol. 14, Pages 6570: Types and Composition of Biomass in Biocoke Synthesis with the Coal Blending Method (Energies)

The steelmaking industry requires coke as a reducing agent, as an energy source, and for its ability to hold slag in a blast furnace. Coking coal as raw coke material is very limited. Studying the use of biomass as a mixture of coking coal in the synthesis of biocoke is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas coal emissions. This research focuses on biomass and heating temperature through the coal blending method to produce biocoke with optimal mechanical properties for the blast-furnace standard. The heating temperature of biomass to biochar was evaluated at 400, 500, and 600 °C. The blending of coking coal with biochar was in the compositions of 95:5, 85:15, and 75:25 wt.%. A compacting force of 20 MPa was employed to produce biocoke that was 50 mm in diameter and 27 mm thick using a hot cylinder dye. The green sample was heated at 1100 °C for 4 h, followed by quenching with a water medium, resulting in dense samples. Increasing heating temperature is generally directly proportional to an increase in fixed carbon and calorific value. Biocoke that meets several blast-furnace criteria is a coal mixture with coconut-shell charcoal of 85:15 wt.%. Carbonization at 500 °C, yielding fixed carbon, calorific value, and compressive strength, was achieved at 89.02 ± 0.11%; 29.681 ± 0.46 MJ/kg, and 6.53 ± 0.4 MPa, respectively. This product meets several criteria for blast-furnace applications, with CRI 29.8 and CSR 55.1.