Coal Pelletizing Studies for the Vertical Shaft Carbonization Process
This paper reviews the circumstances that led to the development and construction of a commercial scale vertical shaft carbonizer at Canmore, Alberta. This form-coking process may be regarded as having potential application in other areas. Coal pelletizing offers a promising method of decreasing coal agglomeration costs under certain circumstances. Pellets can be rolled easily from -35-mesh coal, provided that a minimum of -200-mesh coal is present. Bentonite was found to be the best binder and was most effective when added in amounts of about 2 per cent. The water content of the coal pellets was observed to vary from 18 to 23 per cent. As a by-product of this investigation, it seems possible that fine coal could be converted into stoker feed by t his process. A short investigation of the effect of heating rate on the carbonization of pellets was conducted. The low maximum heating rates in certain temperature ranges, necessary to avoid crack formation in the pellets as reported by other authors, was not found to be as critical with pellets produced from the coals studied. The combination of coal pelletizing and vertical shaft carbonization may well be the basis for an economic form-coking process to produce coke entities of regular shape. These entities could conceivably contain iron ore, limestone or other additives.
Keywords:
bentonite, Dominion Coal Board, iron ore, Metallurgical Coke, pellets, Binder, Binders, Coal, Coke, Cokes, Pelletizing, Pellets, Process, Processes, Shafts
