# Design and Validation of a Laboratory-Scale System for Investigating Coking Byproducts

## TL;DR

This paper describes a lab system that accurately replicates industrial coking processes to study byproduct yields like coke, coal tar, and gas.

## Contribution

A validated lab-scale coking system is developed to replicate industrial yields and gas composition with high accuracy.

## Key findings

- Coke yields in the lab differed by only 1.6% from industrial results.
- COG methane and hydrogen concentrations matched industrial values within 5%.
- The system showed high repeatability and mass balance consistency (99.7–100.2%).

## Abstract

The byproducts of metallurgical coke production play
a significant
role in the economic well-being of integrated steel mills. In this
context, this study aimed to design, construct and validate a laboratory-scale
system to investigate the yields of the three main coking products:
coke, coal tar and coke oven gas (COG). Laboratory yields of coke,
coal tar and COG, as well as the COG composition, were validated against
industrial values obtained with the same coking blend. The apparatus,
comprising a coking retort and a cracking column, was designed based
on systems described in the literature. The coking process was carried
out at 1000 °C with a heating rate of 3 °C/min. The optimal
cracking temperature and residence time for reproducing industrial
conditions were determined to be 800 °C and 30 min, respectively.
Under these conditions, laboratory coke yields differed by 1.6% from
industrial yields, while coal tar yields were equivalent. Average
volumetric yields of COG were 341 Nm3/t, compared to 315
Nm3/t industrially. Methane and hydrogen concentrations,
the two major gases in the COG, differed by less than 5%. The developed
methodology demonstrates high repeatability and mass balance consistency
(product recovery) ranging from 99.7 to 100.2%. These results confirm
the system’s capability to replicate industrial conditions
and provide a foundation for future studies on the impact of coals
and additives on the yields and quality of coking products.