ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 6, 1996 TAG: 9608060047
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BRISTOL
SOURCE: Associated Press
A second 25-ton shipment of coke is en route to General Motors for testing to see if the new fuel will be acceptable for steelmaking.
Coke is a coal byproduct used to fuel furnaces in the production of cast iron and steel. A Bristol company believes it has found a way to produce coke faster and cheaper with fewer pollutants.
Richard Wolfe, owner and chief executive officer of Coal Technology Corp., said the automaker tested a batch of the coke in April, mixing equal amounts of the new coke with coke made the traditional way.
``General Motors is spending $120,000 just to do this test to support this coke. Our first test was in April; General Motors tested it at a 50 percent blend. The test was so successful, GM has proposed another test of 25 tons at a 100 percent blend in their furnace to compare the two results,'' he said.
General Motors is one of the largest users of foundry coke in the United States. The tests are being done at its Marquette, Mich., plant.
Wolfe said the patented, two-phase process can produce a ton of coke in four hours, compared with more than 20 hours for existing processes, and produces no pollutants. The new coke even comes in easy-to-handle briquettes. Regular coke comes in irregular shapes.
``With the briquettes, you get a better air flow through the furnace than with the irregular shapes you get now. We can make it all one size, all the time,'' Wolfe said.
He said the company is looking at two sites in Southwest Virginia for a plant to initially produce 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coke a year.
LENGTH: Short : 38 linesby CNB