Uncalcined coke has a heating value of around 14,000 Btu/lb and is primarily
used as a fuel. High-sulfur uncalcined sponge coke is particularly popular in the
cement industry since the sulfur reacts to form sulfates. Low-sulfur, low-metals
sponge coke may be calcined to remove volatiles and is used mostly for anodes in
the aluminum industry, while needle coke is calcined for anodes in the steel
industry. Table 8 defines the general specification for green coke and calcined
coke.
Lube oil production. The second most important products from the residue of
crude oil are the lube oil products. Details of the lube oil production processes are
given in the chapter on “▶ Non-energy Refineries in Petroleum Processing.” The
development of the industrial revolution gave a big incentive for the production of
high-quality lubricants from the processing of crude oil. A further boost to these
processes followed the rapid development of the automotive industry, particularly
in the Western world. More and more sophisticated processes were developed for
the purpose of this growing demand and an increasing quality requirement. This has
culminated in the use of the hydroprocesses used extensively in today’s modern
refineries.
Still higher quality demands are driving a trend toward synthetic lube oil
processes, such as gas-to-liquids and poly-alpha-olefins.
Through the years, the lubricant market has developed its own lexicon of terms.
Some of these are:
A lube oil base stock – This refers to a base lube oil product from a lube oil process
which meets all the requirements for blending to make a spectrum of lube oil
finished products.
A lube oil slate – This is a set of lube oil base stocks that makes up a particular
finished product. Usually there are between three and five such stocks.
Neutral lubes – These are lube oil streams obtained as side cuts from the vacuum
distillation of the crude oil atmospheric residue.
Bright stock lubes – These are processed as deasphalted oil from vacuum residues.
(Note: deasphalted oils are also used as feedstock to fluid catalytic crackers and
more commonly to heavy oil hydrocrackes).
Table 8 Typical sponge
coke specification
Parameter
Green coke
Calcined coke
Fixed carbon, % wt
86–92
99.5
Moisture, % wt
6–14
0.1
Volatile matter, % wt
8–14
0.5
Sulfur, % wt
<2.5
<2.5
Ash, % wt
0.25
0.4
Silicon, % wt
0.02
0.02
Nickel, % wt
0.02
0.03
Vanadium, % wt
0.02
0.03
Iron, % wt
0.01
0.02
68
D.S.J. Jones and S.A. Treese
used as a fuel. High-sulfur uncalcined sponge coke is particularly popular in the
cement industry since the sulfur reacts to form sulfates. Low-sulfur, low-metals
sponge coke may be calcined to remove volatiles and is used mostly for anodes in
the aluminum industry, while needle coke is calcined for anodes in the steel
industry. Table 8 defines the general specification for green coke and calcined
coke.
Lube oil production. The second most important products from the residue of
crude oil are the lube oil products. Details of the lube oil production processes are
given in the chapter on “▶ Non-energy Refineries in Petroleum Processing.” The
development of the industrial revolution gave a big incentive for the production of
high-quality lubricants from the processing of crude oil. A further boost to these
processes followed the rapid development of the automotive industry, particularly
in the Western world. More and more sophisticated processes were developed for
the purpose of this growing demand and an increasing quality requirement. This has
culminated in the use of the hydroprocesses used extensively in today’s modern
refineries.
Still higher quality demands are driving a trend toward synthetic lube oil
processes, such as gas-to-liquids and poly-alpha-olefins.
Through the years, the lubricant market has developed its own lexicon of terms.
Some of these are:
A lube oil base stock – This refers to a base lube oil product from a lube oil process
which meets all the requirements for blending to make a spectrum of lube oil
finished products.
A lube oil slate – This is a set of lube oil base stocks that makes up a particular
finished product. Usually there are between three and five such stocks.
Neutral lubes – These are lube oil streams obtained as side cuts from the vacuum
distillation of the crude oil atmospheric residue.
Bright stock lubes – These are processed as deasphalted oil from vacuum residues.
(Note: deasphalted oils are also used as feedstock to fluid catalytic crackers and
more commonly to heavy oil hydrocrackes).
Table 8 Typical sponge
coke specification
Parameter
Green coke
Calcined coke
Fixed carbon, % wt
86–92
99.5
Moisture, % wt
6–14
0.1
Volatile matter, % wt
8–14
0.5
Sulfur, % wt
<2.5
<2.5
Ash, % wt
0.25
0.4
Silicon, % wt
0.02
0.02
Nickel, % wt
0.02
0.03
Vanadium, % wt
0.02
0.03
Iron, % wt
0.01
0.02
68
D.S.J. Jones and S.A. Treese