Metallic Iron Effects on Coke Analog Carbon Bonding and Reactivity

In this study, characterization of the porosity, carbon bonding, and reactivity of coke analog materials prepared with and without metallic iron has been carried out. The porosity of the analog is well controlled, reproducible, and typical of a metallurgical coke. Using Raman spectroscopy, the coke analog carbon bonding is a combination of sp(2) and sp(3)-sp(2) bonding types and the values overlapped with those reported for metallurgical coke. It has been widely reported that metallic iron increases graphitization (increases sp(2) bonding) of metallurgical coke. This has been replicated in the coke analog and shown to principally occur at the metallic iron-coke analog interface and not throughout the bulk of the coke analog. The reaction of coke analog containing metallic iron with CO2 has been evaluated using thermogravimetric analysis over the temperature range 1173-1623K. It has been found that the coke analog containing metallic iron displayed similar, but faster reaction behavior to coke analog with no metallic iron.