PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF COKE GAS IN THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700230042-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: March 18, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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STAT
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STAT
Koksovyy Gaz Metallurgizdat
Kharkov-Moscow, 1953
Gas, both natural and manufactured, has acquired tremendous importance
in the USSR fuel economy. Io 19b0, the output of natural gas in the USSA was
1045 percent of that of 1y13. At present, billions of cubic meters of natural
gas arc extracted and used in the country each y i*-1 N
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Experiments indicate that Kuzbass coals may be divided into five Urou
from the standpoint of their gas yield: ps
1. Gas coals (Leainsk sod others) with a volatile matter content of
40 percent and an output of gas (on the basis of 4,000 calories per cubic
meter) averaging 374 cubic meters per ton.
2. Fat coals (Osioovskiy, Novo-Osonovskiy, and other deposits) with a
volatile matter content of 28-35 percent and an average gas yield of 311
cubic meters per ton.
3? Coking-fat and cokin, coals (Prokop'yevsk deposit) with a volatile
matter content of 21-26 percent and an average ins yield of 308 cubic meters
per ton.
4. Coking coals (Anzhero-Sudzhensk, Kiselevsk and other deposits) wits
a volatile matter content of 1'7-l~ percent and an average has yield of 289
meters per ton.
5? Coking cowls, lean coals, lean coking coals (Yrokop'yevsk, Anzhero-
Sudzhensk and other deposits) with a volatile matter content of 14-18 percent
and an average gas yield of 275 cubic meters per ton.
Experiments with Kuzbass coals (Baydayevskiy, Chertinskiy and others)
indicate that the gas yield from coking them under laboratory conditions is
370-39o cubic meters per ton.
For Karaganda coals (IiZh, K, KO) the yield of gas is about 2y0-310
cubic meters per ton and an increase in the gas yield is noted with a^
increase in the volatile matter content.
Kizel basin coals ;ield a high output of gas during coking and the
relation of the volatile matter content of these coals to the gas yield is
expressed as follows:
Volatile !dotter Content Gas Yield in Cubic Ideters per Ton
40-41 330
41-43 33~
43-44 352
365
The gas yield from Pechora basin coal is 305-330 cubit meters per ton
and is directly related to the volatile matter content of ale coal xhich
ranges Prom 31-35 percent.
Preliminary tests indicate that coals of Central Asia are close to the
Osinovskiy deposit in the Huzbas_ as re.;ards their yield of coke: gas.
An increase of the amount of gas coal in the charbe leads to an increase
in the yield of coke bas even if the amount of volatile matter is not increased.
In coking a number of experimental cl~ar;;es of Donbass coals with a gas coal
content up to 40-70 percent, the gas yi~1d was 340-38C cubic meters per ton
with a methane content of 26-30 percent. Experimental coking oi' gas coal from
the Krasnoarmeyskugol' deposit in the Donbass under industrial con%,?.tions
showed that it was possible to obtain 360 cubic meters of bas, with the
following content, per too of coal: 3.6 percent C02, 4.1 percent Cn,Hn, 0.5
percent 0 , 5.1 percent CO, 34.2 percent CH , 4y percent Ii2, 3.5 percent N2.
The calorific value of this gas was 4ay7 ca~ories per cubic meter.
STAT
iI
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Industrial experimental coking of Lisichnnsk coal in a change made ap
of 70 percent long-flame coal and 30 percent of a 1?Zh concentrate from the
Novo-Uzlovskiy TsOF (Central Coal-Cleaning Plant) and with a volatile mntter
content of 39.2 percent yielded 36y cubic :meters of us per ton (based on
4,000 calories per cubic meter).
d high yield of gas (339-35y cubic maters per ton) ?:ras also obtained
from experimental industrial coking of a charge made up of 50 percent Tkvarcheli
coal and 50 percent Tkibuli coal with 37.5 percent volatile matter. The gas
contained 20.o percent of methane ^nd had a calorific value .if about 4,400
calories per cubic meter.
Coke Ovens in Use in the USSR
Both chnmotte brick and Dines brier. can be used in constructin;; coY.e
ovens but in the USSR only Dims:; brick ovena are being constructed and ghat
ehamotte brick evens arc in use there have very Little significance. The
reasons for this arc us follows: The sot'tenin~ point of Dina:: brick is at
a considerably higher temperature than in the case of ehamotte brick. This
makes it possible to maintain u temperature up to 1,l+v0-1,450 decrees in
the heating t:a11s of Dines orick co e ovens as against l,GiO deyrea~ in
ehamotte brick ever. i'he iti~;her *.emrerature in fire Dina:: brick ovens as
well as the relatively great he..^.t conductivity of the Dines brick, makes it
possible to reduce the length c' the coking period in these ovens as compared
with chutnotte brick ovens.
The height cf fire colon;; chamber in modern Dines brici: ovens is usually
about 4,300 millimeters. Tito charbers are loaded t:itit the coal charge in
such a way filet the distance from the to[, oi' the coal charge to the arch
of the chamber is 00-3~;0 millimeters. Consequently, the useful height of
the chnmber is 1+,000-4,100 millimeters. The total length of the heating
wall, consisting of ~0-~9 hautin? flues, is 13.1. meters, lira useful len;;lh,
12.3 meters. The width of the coking chamber is um~qual alon;y the length
cf e oven. Tv fuCiiitute tiic trausmissiou of coke, fire chamber is mode
40-b0 millimeters wider on the coke aide titan on the pusher side. 4s an
average, the width of the coking; chamber r.:nounts to 407 millimeters, although
there are chambers 45G millimeters or more wide. Tice heating wall is wider
on the pusher side (7u0-770 miLLin:aters) than on the core si.dc (710-730
millimeters). The thic;:nass of lira walls c. coking chambers usually ran,;es,
depending on the desif;n of the coke ovens, from 105-12", millimeters.
The useful volume of colon;; citmnbers amounts accordin.;Ly to about 20
cubic meters and the content oi'r. sin._1e wet charge is 16.0-1 v.5 tons (about
15 ton:; or dry chur~,e).
Coke ovens arc blocked in batterieu censistin~ oi' ?'S-~; ovens, although
theca pre batteries containing fewer ovens.
To produce small amounts of cokes ~;as, iC is possible to use sitsple,
very effective vertical chamber ^_oY?c over,.;, c.;rslructed i^ cm~ ~f the USSR
gas plants. Each block consists of five coking chmnbezs, lined with llinas
brick, having six heating walls, two recuperators, and one ;yes generator.
The coking chamber has an average width of about 300 millimeters, and
a useful volume of 2.e cubic meters. The volume of a sin,yle char_e is
1.5-1.o tons. The gas generator works on co::e tkte consuription of ?~rhich amounts
to about 20 percent. The cokint; period ;n these ovens lusts about 1~ hours.
To increase the yield of the gas after the ccmpLetion of coking, superheated
steam is fed from below into the chambers for 4-5 hours. The total yield of
gas is 400-420 cubic meters per ton of the char~a (on lira basis of ~ s:ith a
calorific value of 4000 calories per cubic peter).
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The simplicity of the design and servicing of vertical chamber ovens,
the high yield of gas, and the possibility of using coals xith lox caking
properties, make it expedient to construct Such ovens in small coke-gas
plants.
Increased Temperature at Esd of Coking Period Increases Gas Yield
It has been established that an increase in the temperature of the coke
being issued from the oven from 920-925 degrees to 1,000-1,040 degrees results
in an increase in the output of coke gas (based on 4,000 calories per cubic
meter) Prom 320-325 to 330-335 cubic meters per ton with a simultaneous in-
crease in the hydrogen content and a decrease in the methane content of the
gas.
Experiments indicate that an increase in the temperature in the heating
system and of the temperature of the coke produced, that is, of the total
temperature potential of coking, with no change i^ the length of the coking
period, brings about an increase in the output of gas, an increase in the
hydrogen content of the gas, and a decrease in the methane content, in the
indeterminate hydrocarbons, and the calorific value of the gas. Zf the
temperature at the end of coking is raised 80-100 degrees, the gas yield
will be increased 4-6 percent.
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Special Methods for Increasing the Cas Yield
Two methods of increasing the output of gas from coke ovens are the
feeding of water vapor into the coking chambers and cokint of mixtures of
coal and oil.
In one plant, water vapor (at a pressure of 5 atmospheres) was intro-
duced into the chamber through the lower part of the door from the coke
side, in the amount of 120 kilograms per hour per oven. The steam was fed
i'or 6 hours after gas had stopped being liberated from the charge. The
yield of water gas was 100-120 cubic meters per hour and the consumptio^
of steam for the production of the .as was 1.1-1.2 };ilo~rams per cubic
meter. The percent of utilization of the water vapor for the production
of the gas was about 45-55, and the content of the gas obtained was ap-
proximately as follows: C02, 8-y percent; 02, 0.2 percent; CO, 35-36
percent; CH4, 1.2-1.1~ percent; HZ, 48-50 percent; Ii2, 5-6 percent. The
calorific value of the gas was 2650-2'J50 calories per cubic meter.
According tc available data, the mechanical tcughness of the coke is
notably decreased by the introduction of steam into the coking chamber.
Therefore, this method caa be used only in gas plants, that is, plants
which produce nonmetallur,;ica1 coke.
Since the coking period is 1en~;thened by the time that the steam is
being introduced, the productivity of the plant f'or coke is considerably
reduced and the hourly output of gas is also reduced 2-3 percent. The
introduction of steatr, into the coking chambers also causes some cooling
of the chamber walls.
To increase the efi'ectiveness of the use of steam in this connection,
a method was .corked out whereby superheated water vapor was blown into
the area beneath the crown of the oven from the coke side with the hydraulic
valve of the stack closed. Entering the chamber in a diagonal direction,
the stesm gees o,.t at the f~ocr -. the oven uu the pusher side, is conveyed
by a special connectin;; pipe to the second oven and, passing through this
also in a diagonal direction, it does out to the :tack and the gas collector.
The coefficient of decomposition of the steam in such consecutive passage
through two chambers is about 90 percent, A:oout 0.5 kilogram of steam is
consumed in the production of one cubic meter of water gas with a calorific
value of 2,600-2,800 calories. At the end of the coking period the steam
is fed in for 7 hours at the rate of 150-160 kilograms per hour. Reduction
of the productivity of the ovens f'or Doke is evident in this method since
the coking period is extended 'j hours.
Coking of mixtures of coal and oil is being carried out to increase
the output of aromatic hydrocarbons and gas. V. D. Frisitberg reports the
following results from coking a coal-mazut mixture (add iti-~._ to charge -
5.5 percent mazat): The yield of ;as rose from 30'j to 35? cubic meters.
The CmHn -content of ti,e ;as increased from 1.d8 to 2.7u percent and the
CH4 -content rose i'rom ly.y to 24.5 percent. There was also a rise of
almost 300 calories in the calorific value of the gas (from 3,942 to 4,223
calories per cubic meter). At the same time, the hydrogen content of the
gas dropped from 60.6 to 50.2 percent.
Utilization of Coke Gas as Fuel
Coke gas is one of the best gaseous fuels because of its high calorific
value (4,000-4,400 calories per cubic meter of 8,500-9,500 calories per
kilogram), the temperature of combustion, the small amount of inert con-
stituents, the relatively high content of C02 and H2O in the products of
combustion. I?'or these reasons it is widely used in various fuel-consumin;;
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aggregates. The chief consumers ~
lean gases (blast-furnace ?f coke gas and also mixtures
generator) as fuel are the followingof it with
1? Coke ovens
2? Open-hearth furnaces
3? Soaking pits and rolling-mill installations (blooming-mill pits, etc.)
4? Furnaces in lass, ceramic, chemical plants, etc., various t
driers
ypes of
5? Gas motors and automobile motors (compressed bus)
6? Household requirements (gas stoves, ga^ heating,
etc.)
gas refrigerators,
Coke gas is also used for fueling and firing of ;;team en;incs, for
cutting metal, etc.
The most important consumer of coke gas 1~ ferrous metallurgy, and the
ma,Jority of important coke by-products plants of the USSR are located in
the direct vicinity of metallurgical plant:;,
For plants with the fail metallurgical cycle, the following distribution
mill - 20-
of coke ga301percentct~ristic; open-hearth furnaces 50-u0 percent, rolling
percent, buffer eonsumerslomeration plant 1-~ percent, other shops - 2_
(steam boilers) - 3_4 percent. 5 f
Thus, the chief consumer o? coke gas ir. a metallurgical
open-hearth furnace shop. To use coke gas in o en-
necessary to reduce its sulfur content tc 2_. plant is the
P hearth furnaces, it is
~ Brjms per cubic meter.
Compressed coke ,;as, like other high-calorie fuel gases is
in motor-vehicle engines as a substitute for 1iq~iid i?
pressed gas has ?he v`ys , widely used
fo11o?.:ing advantages: the use of com-
l.. The antiknock Y,-opertiec of the r ;; tend to incr;:ase the compression
ratio of the engine, boost its capacity, anti reduce fuel consumption.
2' I^ a "as engine there is neither condensation of
fuel nor dilution of
lubricants which cause corrosion of the cylinders and other difficulties,
3? The process of forming a ;;orking mixture of gas and air i:; carried
out more completely than in the case of liquid fuel.
4? An engine working o^ gas starts in any temperature .~itiiout difficulties.
The chief dissdvantu;;es of motor-vehicle ,as cylinder; are:
1. Losses of useful Load capacity of the machine because of the considerable
dead weight of the cylinders. Different machine:;, while operating; o^ coY.e gas,
lose the following amounts of their useful load capacity: G~,Z_,~; 23 Fercent;
Z~, 15 percent; and YaG-4, 11 percent.
2. Relatively limited radiiu of activity o: the machines away from the
gas distributing station. She rn~,,
is enough 1'or 15G kilometers, that of~?they o. the G,iZ_iul machine
100-120 kilometers. Zl~-5 (eight cylinders (?ix cylinders)
cufi'lces for
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STAT
to build gas-filling stations andnthistwouldorequiredagsuitablescapitalaoutlay.
There were some gas-filling stations for coke gas and dehydrogenated coke gas
in the USSF. already in 1939?
In one of the USSR metallurgical combines, the fueling and firing of
steam engines with coke gas instead of firewood has been carried out suc-
cessfully for a number of years. There are very flood prospects for a wider
use of coke gas for railroad transport, particularly for intraplant transport.
Coke gas is also used for cutting, metals.
Distribution of Coke Gas
The productio^ of coke has in the U53R, when converted to a suitable
equivalent, amounts to about 50 percent of tkie output of electric power.
One modern four-battery coY,e by-products plant _rroduces in a
million cubic meters of coke !;as, t!u3t is, 2,8 million megacaloriea r:hich
is equal to 400,000 tons of year about 700
amount of energy standard fuel. The distribution of this enormous
W is being improved each year,
The conswnption of coke gas f'or the plants' own requirements (heating
of coke ovens, etc.) had decreased in 1Q!+0 over 1933, but the distribution
of coke gas to outside custcmers was seven times as great and, in 1 0 it
was 11.4 times as ;;rest.
55 ,
A certain increase in the re?uirements for coke gas for the plants'
own use in 1945_1y47 is explained by the introduction, after the restoration
of the Donbass and Dnepr area, of a number of coke batteries of chumotte
brick ovens and Dinas brick ovens which for technical reasons could oot be
converted to heatin.~ by blast-furnace gas.
For certain areas of the country, the effectiveness in the distribution
of coke gas exceeded cited avera~c fi;;ures. Thus, even bef,re the
1939, the consumption or ~ r iicatin~^y coke ovens amounted to 6.
for the Dne r -'" ~" "a`' in
p group of plants, with about u0 3 7 Fercent
plants of the eastern regions of the USSR 2cperceni going to outsiders. In
gas was consumed in 1?40 f'or heatin,; core~ovJns y~~CeJt of the produced coke
to outsiders, includin;; 51.3 percent fcr cnetallur: ' i~ercent ;ras
of coke gas for heating coke ovens was de!.ivered
~J'? Zn 1950, the consumption
and the distribution to outsiders reduced in t!:ese plants to 2 6
for metallur m rose to Y4.6 percent, includinc; 56.9 percent
outsiders isgcensuhedcfortrequirements~of etallur~~cokect'as distributed to
82 percent). 3 (i,+0, v0 percent; 1y50~
The folloc;in;y table indicate;; th:: distribution of coke Via;, for c number
of years in percent of total ar.;ount produced;
Distribution
Years
28 33 36 37 ~R !
39 +0 4
--
3 ta!F t~5 40 47 48
Keating coke
ovens 60 0 6
- 1.2 59.4 4b.1 41.5 42.0 40.2 22.z 2y.2 30.0 31.3 31.1 30.6
Under boilers,
`''.?? ~'y "?0 ''?7 4.2 !:.0 3?= 1.4 1.1 1.8 2.1 3.1 2.4
Total for own
use of coke
plants 83.0 72.1 63.4 50.U 45?"i' 46.0 43.4 23.u 30.3 31.&' 33 ?!+ 34.2 33.0
50
28.8
2.1
30.9
~.:_
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28
33
36
37
38
39
40
43
44
45
46
1
Distributed
+7
48
50
to outsiders
Including
6.3
21.0
33.2
45.9
52.9
52.5
54.6
73.8
66.2
65.2
63.9
63.6
65.4
67,1
metallurgy
Other enter-
5.9
14.9
29.8
39.2
43.3
40.9
44.2
51.3
47.4
48,3
49.8
48:4
50.9
55.1
prises
0.4
6.1
3.4
6
7
6
.
9.
11.6
10.4
22.5
18.8
1ti,9
14.1
15.2
14
5
12
0
Lossea and
uoutilized
coke gas
10,7
6.9
3,}+
3.3
1.4
1.5
2
0
,
2
b
.
.
.
.
3.5 3.e 2.7 2.2 L.o 2.0
The s
ecif
p
ic importance of blast-furnace gas, generator gas, and rich
(dehydrogenated) gas in the total
consumption of fuel for heating coke oven
is increasing each year: 1935
s
, 3.9 percent; 1936, 13.8 percent; 1937
percent; 1939, 28.1 percent
21
1
4
4
;
,
.
9
0, 29.3 percent; 1938, 45.6 percent.
Wh
t
en
he coke ovens are located at a distance from sources of blast-furna
gas, it is expedient to use venerat
ce
or ~~; for heating them and to deliver the
coke gas to other consumers
The
.
use of ,venerator gas instead of coke gas f
heating coke ovens leads to un inc
or
rease of 5-6 percent in the consumption of
heat for colcin~ but it increases th
e uniformity of heating the cokin;; chambe
along their height. The use of
rs
;venerator gas for heating coY.e ovens has been
completely mastered in the USSR.
Generator-gas stations at co};e 'oy_products plants can operate on rejected
coke fines and coke breeze which are Cailim?s oi' the production. The uce of
this type of fuel requires only the simplest technological method of gasifi-
cation, and the least capital and exnloitational outlay. Production costs o:
generator gus obtained in hlgh_oapacity_enop.gtp..t .,
as the cutput price oP coke gas ''or industrial and householdtpurposea. aThiseat
difference in production costs would take care of the expense oi' producing
generator };as. Therefore, a number of coke-gas plants use generator gas,
supplied by special generator stations, for heating coke ovens and furnish
their output of coke gas to co,?nmunul-domestic consumers.
In recent years, the use of coke has 1'or communal needs hoc increased
considerably: in Khar~Y,ov the consumption of coke ras has doubled and its
use has increased notably in Stalino and Zhdancv. In hfoscow, too, coke gas
has acquired real importance in the gas balance of tae city. Here it is mixed
xith natural gas for illumination purposes. In leningrad 1`, is mixed with
generator gas. Moscow exceeds the 1ar~est cities of Euror, lad the US in
the consumption of ,as per person.
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