Effects of Additives on Sulfur Transformation, Crystallite Structure and Properties of Coke during Coking of High-sulfur Coal

High-sulfur coal, as an alternative coal source, has a relatively high proportion in coal reserves. However, the feature of high sulfur content, which can cause environmental pollution and poor quality of molten iron, restrains its utilization in coking industry. Coking experiments of high-sulfur coal with Fe2O3, La2O3 and CaO as additives were carried out in order to fix the sulfur in coke. The effects of additives on sulfur distribution, crystallite structure, surface morphology and properties of coke were investigated. The results indicate that CaO can be used as sulfur-fixing agent in coking process, and CaS is the main mineralogical phase of the sulfur-contained mineral constituents in coke. Fe2O3 and La2O3 facilitate the conversion of CaO to CaS. The additives mainly influence the crystallite height and the average interlayer spacing d002 of coke. The addition of La2O3 increases the value of the crystallite height while the addition of CaO and Fe2O3 decreases it. CaO leads the pores of coke to increase with its physical action and agglomerating characteristic. Fe2O3 and C can form (Fe,C), resulting in the pulverization and erosion of the pore wall. La2O3 makes the coke surface become more compact and thinner. The reactivity of coke increases with the decrease of crystallite height and crystallite layer number.