Cleveland Paper - The Manufacture of Coke. A Discussion

Joseph E. Thropp, Jr., Indiana Harbor, Ind.:—To what do you attribute the fact that in some localities the by-product coke sells at a premium over the ordinary bee-hive coke for foundry use ? If the cell-structure is preferably soft and rather thick in coke for foundry use, as I understand it, do you mean that by-product coke has soft and thick cell-walls ? William H. Blauvelt, Syracuse, N. Y.:—As I say in one of the paragraphs of my paper, the tendency seems to be towards the manufacture of foundry- and furnace-coke under somewhat different conditions. The development of the best cell-structure in coke, of course, has not reached perfection, but we are making progress, and we are inclined to believe that under ordinary conditions the best furnace-coke, that is, coke with the hard cell-wall and the well-developed cell, is produced at fast coking-time and high heats, whereas the best foundry-coke seems to be produced at somewhat lower heats. In one of our plants we are making furnace-coke in 16-hr. coking-time, and foundry-coke in 20-hr. time. Foundry-men want the strong, tough coke. I think the furnace-men present will agree that the best furnace-practice requires a hard coke, with a well-developed cell-structure. Replying to the question as to the reason for higher prices being realized for by-product foundry-coke than for bee-hive coke, of course, the immediate reason is that it suits the foundry-men better. Perhaps one cause may be that we are able, by the selection of coals, which is not usually practicable at bee-hive plants, to get a quality and analysis best suited to foundry-work, with high carbon-content, and with cell-structure and physical strength especially suited to the foundry-men's ideas.