Combustion Behavior of Foundry and Metallurgical Cokes to Diversify Solid Fuel in Cupola for Mineral Wool Production

The transition to a sustainable circular economy necessitates the high-value utilization of slag, with slag wool production emerging as a promising approach.This study investigated the combustion behavior of foundry and metallurgical cokes and derived their combustion rate constants as foundational data for modeling temperature distribution inside a cupola furnace.Combustion experiments were conducted at 1273, 1373, and 1473 K, by first purging with N gas at room temperature, followed by thermogravimetric analysis under dried air flows of 500 and 800 ml/min; post-combustion residues were characterized through X-ray diffraction.The combustion rates of both cokes accelerated with an increase in temperature and oxygen flow; the metallurgical coke exhibited higher reactivity, while the foundry coke possessed a higher calorific value.These findings indicate that foundry coke is a suitable heat source for the cupola.The residues mainly comprised SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 , with minor phases such as Fe 2 O 3 and CaO.Based on kinetic data, combustion rate constants (k c ) were derived as Arrhenius-type functions of temperature for each flow condition, providing key parameters for developing an internal temperature distribution model for the cupola.