Calcined petroleum coke is a carbon-rich byproduct of the oil refining process. It is produced by heating green coke in rotary kilns or shaft calciners. The resulting product has less moisture and volatile matter than raw coke, making it more electrically conductive.
The project technology is expected to be used in the growing industrial energy-intensive market for calcined coke production. Demand for calcined coke is driven by rising steel production and electricity consumption.
Petroleum coke is a carbon-rich solid material that is the final product of oil refining. The calcining process removes moisture and volatile matter from the crude oil, which makes it safer to handle. This material is used to produce various carbon products, including graphite electrodes and carbon brushes. It is also being studied as a fuel for power cells.
The majority of Oxbow’s calcined petroleum coke is used in the primary aluminum industry, where it is an essential ingredient for producing carbon anodes. For every pound of aluminum produced, about 0.4 pounds of this carbon-rich material is consumed.
To make calcined petroleum coke, the raw, unprocessed coke is heated to high temperatures in a rotary kiln. This process drives off any remaining hydrocarbons and modifies the crystalline structure, which results in a denser, more electrically conductive coke. The resulting coke is called “anode grade.” The metallurgical industry prefers a low volatile matter (VM) content, which correlates with the vibrated bulk density (VBD) of the coke.
A large proportion of the petroleum coke produced is low-sulfur and low-trace metals calcined coke, which is used for carbon anode production in the aluminum industry. The sponge-like structure of calcined coke allows binding material to penetrate it and form a solid carbon block through which aluminum smelters conduct electricity into their smelting pots. The aluminum smelters consume 40 tons of calcined coke for every 100 tons of aluminum they produce.
The low-sulfur, low-trace metals calcined petroleum coke is made by heating the green coke in a rotary kiln. The rotary kilns are steel shells lined with high-temperature refractory brick. They range in size from 30-85 m in length and are 2.4-4.4 m in diameter. Many rotary kilns have waste heat energy recovery systems that use the hot flue gases from the combustion of the VM to generate power with a steam turbine generator.
Some smelters also have shaft calciners to supplement their CPC supplies. This enables them to respond to quality changes in green coke by blending the different qualities of calcined coke. Tighter SO2 emissions limits are expected to continue to drive more calciners to install SO2 scrubbing systems.
During the metallurgical process, petroleum coke is used as an electrically conductive material. It is produced by calcining the coke, which makes it more conductive and allows it to absorb more electric current. This conductive material is then used in the production of graphite electrodes and carbon brushes.
The calcination process of green petroleum coke is an important step in the Hall-Heroult aluminum smelting process. It is also a key ingredient in the production of carbon anodes for aluminium pots and carbon brushes.
Due to changes in crude oil quality and refining economics, the supply of green coke with low impurity levels and a high reactivity is becoming more limited. As a result, more smelters are using multiple CPC suppliers and more sophisticated blending systems. This is especially important when smelters use a blend of shaft and rotary calcined coke.
Petroleum coke is a solid byproduct of oil refining that has a high carbon content and low impurity levels. It is used as fuel in electric power plants and in cement kilns. It also serves as a source of energy for other industrial processes. It can be processed into various carbon products, such as industrial silicon and graphite electrodes. It is also a key ingredient in asphalts and bricks.
GPC must be calcined to remove moisture and volatile matter (VM). It is important that the coke has a high bulk density, which can be measured using the vibrated bulk density test. This measurement indicates how much the VM has reduced the bulk density of the coke. Higher VBD coke is preferred by aluminum smelters.
The calcination process is a highly energy-intensive process. It requires large rotary kilns with steel shells lined with refractory brick. Many rotary kilns are equipped with waste heat recovery systems to capture energy from the hot flue gases generated during calcination. This energy is converted to steam and sold to nearby plants or used to generate electricity with a steam turbine generator.
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