Mineral matter in coals and their reactions during coking

Degradation of coke in the blast furnace is influenced by its inherent mineral matter, the formation of which is itself dependent upon the nature of the coal mineral matter. To date few studies have been made of coke mineralogy and its relationship to the mineralogy of the parent coal. In this study the effect of carbonisation on coal mineral matter has been investigated by a detailed quantitative mineralogical examination of nine cokes and their parent coals. The quantitative analysis was performed on X-ray diffraction patterns of the mineral matter of cokes and coals, using SIROQUANT^™. Coke mineralogy and its composition varied strongly between cokes, more strongly than variations in elemental composition of the ash. The mineral matter in the studied cokes consisted of crystalline mineral phases and also significant levels of amorphous phase (ranging between 44 and 75%). Decomposition of clays such as kaolinite, montmorillonite, illite and chamosite produced the amorphous phase and some of the crystalline mineral phases such as mullite, γ-alumina, spinel, cristobalite and leucite. The type of association of mineral matter in coals had an important role in how the clays decomposed. For example, association of kaolinite with silica-bearing minerals in intimate intermixture favoured formation of mullite over γ-alumina. Akermanite and diopside result from reaction of kaolinite with associated calcium bearing minerals (calcite, dolomite or ankerite). Quartz, fluorapatite and the three polymorphs of TiO₂ (anatase, brookite and rutile) were the coal minerals that were least affected during carbonisation, as they were also found in the cokes, yet even they were affected in some cases.