Search

In previous weathering studies carried out at the Instituto Nacional del Carbón (INCAR) on a typical complex coal blend composed of 13 different coals and used by the Spanish steel industry, it was concluded that, with regard to coke quality, no significant changes occurred over a storage period of 10 months, whereas after this date impairment was observed. However, the behaviours of selected individual coals, which were components of this coking blend, were rather different. Coke quality improved, was impaired or did not change in some cases, as a result of weathering over a period of ~6 months. In certain cases, slight weathering improved the quality not only of cokes from high volatile or high fluidity coals but also of those from medium and low volatile coals. Hence, the behaviour of an industrial coal blend in conditions of slight weathering can be influenced by the compensating effects of the behaviours of individual coals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]