The cement industry is the third largest consumers of coal after power and metallurgy. Cement industries rely on Coal to very great extent as Coal & Petroleum Coke is the only energy source available. The Coal used for cement industry deserves satisfaction of some specific characteristics. Coal combustion products such as Fly Ash as Fly Ash is one of the residues generated, plays an important role in cement manufacture and in the construction industry.
Coal for Coke
Coke is also manufactured from Coal. The Coal purchased for Coke making is different from those used in other processes. Certain Coal known as Coking Coal, with specific composition & specification, only is suitable for the manufacturing of a quality Coke for Blast furnace use. The Coking Coal must deliver a consistent calorific value, be reasonably low in ash yield and meet environmental standards for sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Coal for Electricity generation
In electricity generation Coal fuels to over 40% of electricity worldwide. Steam Coal also known as Thermal Coal is used in power stations to generate electricity. Around 75% of electricity consumed in India is generated from Thermal power plants and about 65% of it is generated from Coal based Thermal power plant, these ratios give a picture of demand of Coal in electricity generation sector in India.
Coal for Steel
Coal plays a very important role in Steel industry. Global Steel production is dependent on Coal. Modernized direct iron making technologies permits the use of Coal directly (pulverized Coal combustion concept) without the need for metallurgical Coke, this provides lower capital cost compared to the blast furnace/coke oven, and have the advantage to offer the economy of small scale production (1,000-2,000 ton/day plants.)
In case of large scale production plant, Coal is not directly used in the furnace. But the fact is almost 65% of Steel produced worldwide comes from Blast Furnace which again uses Coke (manufactured from Coking Coal) as fuel and 30% of Steel produced comes from Electric arc furnace which uses electricity generated by Coal based thermal power stations.
