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Petroleum coke is cheaper than coal; therefore, the economics of the process can be improved by substituting coke for coal. Petroleum coke cannot simply be substituted 100% for coal due to hardness issues and combustibility issues. Usually an existing plant may use petroleum coke as a 20% substitute for existing coal use.

This results in problems. Now your workers have to handle both coal and coke separately and ensure the intended blend ratio is maintained in order to maintain operability.

There are specific materials handling issues than can make the discount less advantageous than is immediately apparent. Equipment such as cranes, conveyors, and crushers may frequently break down and may need to be spared in order to keep the process running. Also if the source of the petroleum coke is not locally available supply disruptions may occur based on price changes in petroleum coke (or in bunker fuel or marine diesel oil (MDO) which is used by the ships that carry coke). For instance shipping petroleum coke from the United States to China is only economical when petroleum coke is above a certain price is China.

Petroleum coke may also increase the SOx (sulfur dioxide or sulfur trioxide) emissions from the plant. Options to mitigate the emissions impact include buying higher priced, lower sulfur coal and/or coke to blend into the fuel mix. This negatively affects the economics of the original planned coke substitution.

In the case of a grassroots project designed to burn petroleum coke (such as a circulating fluidized boiler, (CFB) ), the economics can be much more favorable. Even in this case environmental permitting issues and petroleum coke supply issues should be evaluated before starting the project. Due to recent concerns with carbon dioxide regulations and ever more strict sulfur emissions regulations, permitting solid fuel boilers has become more difficult throughout the world; however, the economics of using petroleum coke can still pay off depending on the required payback period of the project.

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Q: What are the pros and cons of using petroleum coke?
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