In news- The Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Russia on cooperation regarding coking Coal.
Key updates-
- The objective of the MoU is to strengthen cooperation between India and Russia in the steel sector.
- It shall benefit the entire steel sector by reducing their input cost.
- It may lead to reduction in cost of steel in the country and promote equity and inclusiveness.
- The activities involved in the cooperation are aimed at diversifying the source of coking coal.
About Coking coal-
- Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke.
- Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking.
- Metallurgical coal comes mainly from Canada, the United States, and Australia.
- Bituminous class coals of high, medium, and low volatile rank that possess these properties are called “coking” coals.
- It is low in ash, moisture, sulfur and phosphorus content.
- Coke quality is largely influenced by coal rank, composition, mineral content and the ability to soften when heated, become plastic, and resolidify into a coherent mass.
- Coke is produced by baking coal in the absence of oxygen to remove the volatile hydrocarbons contained in coal.
- On heating, the coal softens, and volatile components evaporate and escape through pores in the mass.
The property that really sets coking coals apart from other coals is its caking ability, which is the specific property required in order to make coke suitable for steel making.
Source: PIB
