What is the difference between met coal and coking coal

This type of coal plays a vital role in electricity generation worldwide. However, due to various environmental considerations, the use of thermal coal is limited now. It has become a major cause of global warming.

As an evaluation, back in , thermal coal peaked in electricity generation, and it is estimated that this usage will come to a terminal at around if we attempt to limit global warming.

As a result, most of the companies have stopped investing in new thermal coal productions. We can categorize coal into different groups depending on the application. Thermal coal and coking coal are two such types of coal. The key difference between coking coal and thermal coal is that coking coal is mainly used to produce high-quality coke, whereas thermal coke is important in producing electricity. Thermal coal is highly produced and has a low cost while thermal coal usage is limited due to environmental considerations.

Coal can be categorized into different groups depending on the application. The key difference between coking coal and thermal coal is that coking coal is mainly used to produce high quality coke, whereas thermal coke is important in producing electricity.

After cooling, the coke solidifies as lumps of porous, crystalline carbon large enough to be used by blast furnaces. The entire process can take between 12 and 36 hours. Properties inherent in the initial input coal heavily influence the ultimate quality of the coke produced.

A lack of a reliable supply of individual coal grades means that coke-makers today often use blends of up to 20 different coals to offer steelmakers a consistent product. Approximately 1. After the blast furnace is fed with these materials, hot air is blown into the mixture.

The air causes the coke to burn, raising temperatures to 1, degrees Celsius, which oxidizes impurities. The hot metal is then drained from the blast furnace and sent to the BOF, where scrap steel and limestone are added to make new steel. Other elements, such as molybdenum, chromium, or vanadium, can be added to produce different steel grades.

On average, about kilograms of coke are required to produce one metric ton of steel. Production efficiency in the blast furnace process is highly dependent upon the quality of raw materials used. A blast furnace fed with high-quality coke will require less coke and flux. The use of high-quality product actually lowers production costs and results in a better hot metal. In , an estimated 1. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coking coal, accounting for about million metric tons in Australia and the United States follow, producing million and 78 million metric tons, respectively.

The international market for coking coal, not surprisingly, is highly dependent on the steel industry. Close X. Click to scroll back to top of the page Back to top. By Paula Baker Global News. Posted June 10, pm. View image in full screen. Smaller font Descrease article font size - A. Share this item on Facebook facebook Share this item via WhatsApp whatsapp Share this item on Twitter twitter Send this page to someone via email email Share this item on Pinterest pinterest Share this item on LinkedIn linkedin Share this item on Reddit reddit Copy article link Copy link.

These higher quality coking coals are increasing in demand faster than their lower quality counterparts as China trends towards the use of larger blast furnaces to achieve higher productivity, use of advanced technology and balancing environmental concerns. The larger the blast furnace, the better quality coke required which drives an ascension of the blending ratio of strongly-caking coal.

What is Coking Coal.