Techno-economic assessment for metallurgical coals: a ‘value-in-use’ approach

The optimization of coke cost is the most significant cost-controlling factor for hot metal production. Therefore, worldwide cokemakers always have extra pressure from management to produce superior quality coke with inferior raw materials and optimal costs. Coke quality is crucial in blast furnace operation regarding cost and productivity. The quality of coke is significantly influenced by the quality of different categories, viz., prime hard coking coal, hard coking coal, soft coking coal and semi-soft coking coal of individual coals used in the coal blend. The impacts of these coals directly influence coke properties because all coals have an inherent characteristic with different coking potentials in terms of value-in-use (VIU). Also, the technological and techno-commercial change of the metallurgical coal market of today differs from past decades. Likewise, the future metallurgical coal market will vary from today’s market. Therefore, a process for assessing/evaluating the coking potential of metallurgical coal shall be used for appropriate value-in-use to produce quality coke with the optimum cost. The composite coking potential methodology served the value-in-use purpose and was successfully implemented. The paper describes the significance of the value-in-use of metallurgical coal to evaluate the most economically favourable technique for producing the desired coke quality.