8th International Congress on Science and Technology of Ironmaking - ICSTI 2018

Brazil has a large coal reserve, which is mainly located in the Parana Basin, southern region of the country. Despite that, the steel sector, which is the largest coal consumer in Brazil, needs to import 100% of its demand. The coal from Barro Branco seam in Santa Catarina-Brazil is a potential raw material for coke production due to its well-known coking properties. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate and justify the thermoplastic behavior of Barro Branco coal, as well as to investigate its influence on the metallurgical coke quality. The results indicated that the Barro Branco coal presents extremely developed thermoplastic properties when compared to imported coking coals. This characteristic seems to be associated with possible impregnation of bitumen in petrographic components of the vitrinite group. Barro Branco coal promoted an important increase of the thermoplastic properties of coal blends. In general, it was observed that Barro Branco coal caused a decrease on coke quality. However, the use of this coal is favored in coal blends containing high inert content.