Reactive-inert interfaces in metallurgical cokes: Effect of added inerts

The quality of interfaces between reactive and inert textural components in cokes produced from three single coals with added petroleum coke and calcined anthracite were quantified by microscopy and expressed as an interface quality index, IQI. For interfaces involving the three inert components studied, the IQI decreased in the order: inherent inerts > petroleum coke > calcined anthracite. The IQI of interfaces involving inherent inerts decreased in the presence of added inerts in the coke, implying that the ability of a coal to bind inerts into the coke structure was shared between the two types of inerts.