In October, as part of WP7 of the BioCoke4FAI project, a series of pilot tests for smelting manganese ferroalloys using bio-coke was completed. The test series took place in a pilot furnace at SINTEF in Trondheim. Bio-coke acts as a reducing agent in the carbothermal process of manganese ore reduction. Manganese is one of the alloying additives that improve the key mechanical properties of steel and has a positive effect on tensile strength, workability, hardness and abrasion resistance. It also reacts with sulfur, preventing the steel surface from cracking. The test series consisted of two campaigns during which two types of bio-coke with a renewable component content of over 20%, produced in the technological conditions of the gravity- and stamping system. Twelve individual tappings were made for each bio-coke. The tests proved the suitability of the bio-coke produced under the project for the production of manganese ferroalloys. The bio-coke used in the tests was produced in a pilot coking oven as part of the implementation of WP6 led by Koksownia Częstochowa Nowa. The idea of producing bio-coke is based on replacing part of the elemental carbon of fossil origin, the source of which is coking coal, with elemental carbon from renewable sources – biomass. Biomass, due to the assimilation of carbon dioxide during the photosynthesis process, is considered a zero-emission raw material, therefore the introduction of biomass origin carbon should contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions from the processes of using coke (bio-coke). The practical implementation of the above-mentioned idea involves the production of bio-coke in functioning coke oven batteries using a coking blend with appropriately prepared biomass raw materials, raw or thermally processed biomass (torrefied, charcoal, etc.).

On June 14-16, the Mineral Engineering Conference 2023 (MEC2023) took place in Wisła. We were very pleased to take part in this international conference and deliver a presentation entitled Bio-coke as a reductant for the ferroalloy smelting process. The conference is a forum for the exchange of knowledge, experience and integration of specialists from science and industry, representatives of the mining industry, scientists and specialists working in the field of research on the properties and use of mineral resources, as well as representatives of research units, industry companies and mining authorities.

At the end of March, the fourth project meeting was held as part of the BioCoke4FAI project – Bio-coke for ferroalloys industry production. The meeting was attended by representatives of the project partners, researchers from the SINTEF institute, engineers and technologists from the Norwegian company producing ferroalloys ERAMET and Koksownia Częstochowa Nowa, as well as employees of the Institute of Energy and Fuel Processing Technology (ITPE). This time the organizer and host of the meeting was Koksownia Częstochowa Nowa sp. z o.o. (KCN). The meeting was divided into three parts. In the first substantive part, the participants presented the current results of the project, including the results of research on the impact of the addition of various types of bio-components (including charcoal and waste biomass from food production) on the structural and quality parameters of bio-coke produced on a large-laboratory and pilot scale . The Norwegian partners presented the results of the evaluation of the parameters of bio-coke produced at ITPE within Work Package 2 in terms of its use in electric arc furnaces and ecological aspects of its use. At this stage of the work, it was concluded that bio-coke obtained on the basis of coal-biomass blends meets the requirements for carbon reductantts, and its suitability should be verified during pilot furnace tests that will take place in June and August this year at SINTEF. After discussing substantive and organizational matters, the participants went on a technological visit to the production facilities of the KCN Coking Plant – the department of coke production, by-product plant and the laboratories. On the next day, all participants had the opportunity to see the technological infrastructure of the pilot coke oven with a movable wall in the Liberty Steel Coking Plant in Ostrava. With the use of the aforementioned pilot oven, pilot tests of bio-coke production are carried out. Liberty Steel coking plant is a subcontractor in the Work Package implemented by KCN. The bio-coke produced in the pilot oven will be used for the aforementioned ferroalloy smelting tests in the pilot furnace at SINTEF. We would like to thank all participants for their participation in the meeting, interesting presentations and fruitful discussions.

Together with the PREMA project, we cordially invite you to participate in the Workshop on: BIOCARBON – a green alternative to reduce the carbon footprint of FeMn alloy production. The workshop will take place on January 11-12, 2023.

The topics of the workshop include issues related to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the industry producing ferroalloys through the use of renewable raw materials – biocarbon.

If you are a representative of the industry, science, research and development sector related to the discussed issue or you are simply interested in this topic, we cordially invite you to participate in the workshop.
The registration form is available at the link: https://zfrmz.eu/O8cy2p0Cdtn7oeOjtkJO

At the XXX jubilee scientific and technical conference KOKSOWNICTWO 2022, a thematic discussion panel was held entitled: Bio-coke – a chance for the Polish cokemaking industry?. The panel was led by an employee of the Institute of Fuel and Energy Technology (ITPE), Dr. Michał Rejdak. Research on the production of bio-coke, i.e. a hybrid reducer produced on the basis of coal blends with the addition of biomass substances, has been carried out in the world for over a dozen years, but in the last few years, due to the fight against global warming and the desire to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, they have gained considerable momentum. The idea of ​​bio-coke is based on the replacement of part of the elemental carbon of fossil origin, the source of which is coking coal, with elemental carbon from renewable sources – biomass. Due to the assimilation of carbon dioxide during the photosynthesis process, biomass is considered a zero-emission resource, therefore the introduction of biomass-based carbon should contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions from the processes of coke (bio-coke) utilization. The practical implementation of the above-mentioned idea consists in the production of bio-coke in functioning coke oven batteries, using for this purpose coal blends with properly prepared biomass raw materials – raw or thermally processed biomass (torrefaction, charcoal, etc.).

The aim of the panel was to familiarize the participants with the current state of knowledge and technology on issues related to the production of bio-coke, to present our experience in the field resulting from the BioCoke4FAI project implementation and to discuss the possibility of implementing this technology in the practice of domestic cokemaing, which is currently the European leader in the production and export of high-quality coke. The panel met with great interest of the conference participants – representatives of both industry and the scientific community. There was a lively discussion about the wide implementation potential of the technology in question. Particular emphasis in the discussion was put on the elements related to the economic and ecological aspects of obtaining biomass raw materials, the process of thermally processed biomass production, including the phenomena and mechanisms occurring in its course. It was concluded that the industrial implementation of bio-coke production technology requires the acquisition of full knowledge and optimization of factors shaping its quality parameters, taking into account the requirements of industrial processes in which it will be used.

We are pleased to announce that our team’s article was published in the Energies MDPI magazine – “A Study on Bio-Coke Production — The Influence of Bio-Components Addition on Coke-Making Blend Properties”

We kindly invite you to read: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/18/6847

On September 20-23 at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków (Cracow), the 2nd International Conference EFE 2022 – Energy Fuels Environment took place. At the conference, we presented a paper entitled “The influence of charcoal addition to coking blend on bio-coke quality parameters.

More information about conference you can find below:

http://ef-conference.agh.edu.pl/programme/

From 1 to 3 June, IChPW employees Michał Rejdak and Małgorzata Wojtaszek – Kalaitzidi took a study visit as part of the BioCoke4FAI project. The study visit took place at the Norwegian research Institute SINTEF in Trondheim, which is also the research partner of the project. The visit was supervised by Michał Książek from SINTEF. As part of the visit, IChPW employees participated in technological research of bio-coke produced at the Institute. The research included parameters important for the production of manganese ferroalloys, such as electrical resistance, reactivity to CO / CO2 gas (SINTEF method), studies of the microstructure of biocokes by EPMA (electron microscopy) and slag reactivity.

On May 30 and 31, the third BioCoke4FAI project meeting took place. The meeting was held on-site at SINTEF in Trondheim, Norway. The project is implemented under the POLNOR 2019 program by the Polish-Norwegian consortium: IChPW (Poland, Project Promoter), SINTEF (Norway, research partner), ERAMET (Norway, industrial partner, ferroalloys producer) and KCN, Koksownia Częstochowa Nowa (Poland, industrial partner – coke producer). All representatives of the project partners participated in the meeting. The meeting was divided into three parts. In the first part, all partners presented the results of their research work. In the second part, the work planned to be carried out in the further part of the project was discussed, taking into account the results obtained so far. Organizational matters of the project were also discussed. During the third part, participants could visit the research infrastructure of the SINTEF and NTNU laboratories.

On November 29 and 30, the second BioCoke4FAI project meeting took place. The meeting took place in Zabrze at the seat of the Institute for Chemical Processing of Coal – the project promoter. In addition to the employees of the Institute, the meeting was attended by representatives of all partners co-implementing the project, i.e. the SINTEF Institute from Norway, the ERAMET company from Norway and the Częstochowa Nowa Coking Plant. The aim of the meeting was to present and discuss the project results obtained so far, discuss current issues related to its implementation as well as plan future activities. As part of the meeting, the participants also made a technological visit to the Częstochowa Nowa Coking Plant, where they could learn in detail about the technological system of coke production with use of stamp-charged technology.