FOR A BULGARIAN COKE-CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-00280R001300190013-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 3, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: November 2, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

For S. Bulfltiwn Co)pi-C icnl T,..i L +,
P. Planhla+r
~1mQ D~lo, Vol n. No 2, Sofia, Mar-1}.r 1956, pp 16-21.
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Coke was obtained in all these experiments. Hoowever, its
quality does not permit its use in high and average furnaces. It
can only be used in low-pit furnaces, as an addition (up to 30%)
to ordinary coal. The results achieved in the German Democratic
Republic, showing that the production of coke with rather good
mechanical qualities is possible, are most encouraging. This coke,
however, has a very low degree of porosity (26 to 30%; while for
normal coke, it is over 50%). The German specialists have observed
that this coke can be added to ordinary coke in amounts up to 30%.
Taking into account that a great deal of work has been done
on methods of coking brown coal during the past decades, and that
coking techniques are still being perfected, it can be expected
that brown coal will widely be used for making coke in the very
near future. Even at present, the German Democratic Republic uses
coke produced from brown coal in ferrous metallurgy (despite the
fact that the classical high furnaces are not employed).
The results of research carried out so tar on coal for cok-
in: give us the opportunity for evaluating the Bulgarian raw-mate-
rial resources for the production of coke.
The most important thing is that we have coal including all
the technological grades necessary for coking. However, it has a
.:other high percentage of ash and sulphur. In general, its eonce^-
t.at.ion is a difficult process, and obtaining the necessary concen-
trate for coking (having a low percentage of ash and sulphur) re-
quires t:;e utilization of a considerable tonnage of the geological
.:Uerves krv,n.
The reserves of coal for coking now known still do nut permit
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 the establishment of a cokoproducing industry on a large scale.
Furthermore, lean caking and noncaking coals predominate in the
deposits so far tested, which limita the possibilities of using all
tfie deposits of hard coal so far discovered for coking.
The quantities of coal of the "Gas, " "Fet, " and "Coke"
.grades which would be added to the batch with the "lean" and "lean
caking" coals are insufficient.
The technical possibility, in the future, of using brown
coal as well for coking widens the raw material resources for coke
production.
This problem, i,owover, is now under research. The use of
brown coal is still limited. In this connection, there are also
other obstacles: the Bulgarian brown coal pits (we have in mind
those in Dimitrovo, Bobov Dol, and Pirin) have small reserves of
I gh quality coal, and the coal with high ash content is difficult
to concentrate and reduce its ash content to 6-:%, which is re-
quired for coking.
Under such circumstances, the problem of the development of
the coke-chemical industry in Bulgaria must be analyzed in the fol-
lowing manner.
The research and studies made on the coal reserves in the
Balkan basin and in certain other places justify a serious consid-
eration of the problems concerning the construction of a coke-
chem-ical plant. It is necessary, of course, to know in advance that
from .is coal we will produce coke only under rather difficult
conditions -- chiefly due to the difficulties involved in concen-
trating, and to the lack of sufficient "gas" and "fat" coal. The
 site of this plant will have to be determined on the basis of ex-
isting reserves as well as the prospects for the discovery of new
reserves of coal for coking. Meanwhile, until the necessary re-
serves of "gas" and "fat" coal have been discovered in Bulgaria,
coal can be imported from abroad.
The construction of a coke-chemical industry on a wider
scale, calls for several undertakings to be carried out in the
shortest possible time, the most important of these, in our
opinion, are the foll6wing.'-
1. Still wider geological research must be cc o? Ln
the Balkan basin for locating further reserves of hard coal, with
special attention to prospecting for reserves of "gas" and "fat"
coal. Research in other regions containing hard coal, particularly
in northwestern Bulgaria, must also be undertaken.
2. Systematic chemical and technological research on coal
must be carried out, along with geological research, in order tr
determine the suitability of the coal for making metallurgical
coke. Particular efforts are required in choosing the proper
met?ods of concentration suitable for Bulgarian coals, and for in-
suring the production of a concentrate having a low ash and sulfur
ccwtent. Systematic research and seaiindustrial and industrir.l
tests with a view to discovering the most suitable method of mix-
ing the coal dust be carried out, in favor of making coke wits
high physical, mechanical, and chemical qualities, and to achieve
bo':tar utilization of existing hard coal reserves.
3, Research on the use of brown coal for coking -- mainly
fo:? adding to other types of coals used for coking, ang also as au
independent raw material -- must be carried out in Bulgaria.
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4. Work on drafting ylsas for pits must be completed on
schedule, then the construction of theme pits must begin immedi-
ately to insure the supply of coal necessary for the operation of
the coke-chemical plant.
5. It is necessary to pay attention to the problem of lim-
iting the current exploitation of the valuable kinds of coal
("gaa," "fat," and "coke") in the Balkan basin, and to reserve
these types for the projected coke plant.
These tasks call for the mobilization of some considerable
forces -- material and manual. So far, technological research on
coal for coking has been carried out almost exclusively by the
NIITIG. Even at the Institute only 3 or 4 persons, who are inad-
equately trained and poorly equipped, are engaged in research on
tine problems of coke production. The number of specialists en-
gaged in research on coal for coking must be increased as quickly
as possible, and the basic material necessary for carrying out
qualitative and fruitful research work must be created. Further-
more, specialists must be sent abroad for training, where they can
become acquainted with the methods and techniques necessary for
carrying out the necessary research.
The specialists of the BAN (Bulgariaa aksdeaiya na naukite,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and the VtM (Visshi uchelni r_aveden-
iya, Higher Educational Institutions) must participate more actively
in the implementation of this task, by taking over part of the re-
search work related to the establishment of the coke-chemical in-
dustry in Bulgaria.
The planning and the building of a coke-chemical plant will
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.WV& a aw aiw sass swap w avawafa. aapavaeaaas-a.. aa.aa waaa prob-
As far as preliminary research is concerned, including the
choice of the most likely and favorable mixture for coking, this
can be carried out entirely in Bulgaria. It is wrong to consider
that such research must be carried out abroad. It is difficult to
send all the samples necessary for research out of the country.
The location of the various deposits and the variety in the kinds
of coal make numerous combinations and tests impossible if they
were to be conducted abroad. Also we must pay for such tests per-
haps even more than it would take to eouip a research center
locally and to train local personnel.
The time is already ripe for a serious discussion of the
problems of establishing a Bulgarian coke-chemical industry. We
must devote the efforts required and invest the funds necessary
for the final solution of this problem.
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I^08 A BQLOARIAN CM-C EIIICAL IXDUSTRY
Mine delo [Mining), P. Plachkov
Vol XI, No 3, (Director of Niitig)
March-April 1956, .
Sofia, Pages 16-21
the industrial development of wiy country depends on numer-
ous :actors. One of the principal factors'is the metal industry,
particularly, t,e production of pig*iron and steel.
e}lgaria is pursuing a?course of speedy industrialization.
The mr,1nr efforts of the party and the government have been di-
rected 'toward the building up of heavy industry, which. is the
b tts Jor.transformirs the country from an agrarian country into
an iulvstrial-agrarian one. However,. it is difficult to build up
heavy industry without domestic production of pig iron and steel.
That is how the building of the "Stalin" DILL (Durzhaven Mashin-
ostroltelen. Zavod, State Machine-building Plant) was one of the
first large !tanstruction projects in Bulgaria. This plant is now
being expandtd, and' the first blast Iurt.?kee for the production of
pig iron is currently being added to it.
Along with this, in the. past few years research has been
carried out on a large scale with a V AI*' to locating iron ore
deposits, whi4t are necessary for pig .? in production. In this
connection,`c~julgarian geological reseaicn organizations have
achieved considerable success, and it can safely.be said that iron
ore reserves sufficient to last several consecutive decades are as-
sured. leserves of manganese ore, equally necessary for the for-
foul industry, have also been.insured.
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coke, for the blast furnaces. In order to insure the supply of
coke, the directives of the Sixth Party Congress have called for
sufficient geological research for the discovery of more hard
coal reserves which is the basic raw material for coke production.
The plan calls for an increase of 38 times in the. known reserves.
by the and of the current Five-Year Plan. During the past few
;gars, large scale geological'researcla with a view to the discovery
of new hard coal reserves for coking have been carried out in Bul-
garia. At the same time, considerable technological research for
the purpose of determining the possibility of the production of
coke from one or another kind of coal has-been conducted in Bul-
garia and abroad.
In the present article, we wish to provide a short summary
of the research carried out so far on the'problem of the production
of coke in Bulgaria and to attempt to point out some of the further
messuros necessary for the final solution of this problem.
Attempts to-organize a Bulgarian coke-chemical industry
data back to the bourgeois capitalist period. The Bulgarian
capitalists who owned the deposits of hard coal, good for coking,
in the Balkan basin, thought of instituting such production, and,
as . result, the coke factory at the P achkovtsi railroad station,
consisting of only a few furnaces, was built. The lack of proper
dev:r.apment in industry at that time, the contradictory interests
of tn& mine owners, the lack of interest on the part of the
bourgeois fascist state in the development of the coke-chemical
ind"utcy, and the influence exerted by other capitalist countries,
made it impossible in practice to solve the problem of the oruani-
Lath. of coke production in Bulgaria.
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Th;n for the first time in Bulgarian history this question
was paste for complete solution, by the People's Regime. The pro-
duction o.:' coke is linked with the problem of the development of the
Bulgarian entire indcustry, particularly ferrous and nonferrous metal-
lurgy, the chemical industry, and the machine-building industry.
Brown coal was sent to France in 1949 for research work on
the possibility of producing coke by now methods. Inter, brown
coal was also sent to the German Democratic Republic and the
Hungarian People's Republic, for the same purpose. tY2 ehs11 re-
view the revults achieved after we have analyzed the research on
hard Balkan coal in greater detail; the latter still represents the
aost feasible raw material basis for the production of coke.
General Administration of Geological and Mining.Rasoarch has since
1953 been carrying out a detailed study of the Balkan coal basin,
With a view to locating reserves of coal suitable for industrial
coking. The reserves in the active pits and those of the new
sectors are being studied in detail. Technological research is be-
ing carried along with geological research, with a view to determin-
ing the suitability of the coal for the production of metallurgical
The technological tests were carried out by NIITIG (Nauch-
noisaledovatelski institut as takhnoloahki issledvaniya na gori-
vats, Scientific and Research Institute for Technological Research
on Fuels) on samples of coal, 30-50 t each, submitted by the ge-
ological research groups. The tests included: (1) chemical anal-
ysis; (2) sifting operations to establish granulation; (3) frac-
tional analysis to determine concentration capacity; (4) industrial
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ooawsatntios test to obtain eeaseotratlda tadieoew tot seal wi?r
industrial ooditioms, and saialy to ebtala larver asastit:ve @I
concentrated coal necessary let the ether t"10, Gets 12) jas
(sanduchno j and ooepar ta?a t oci 1 ag of the oeseea t r"a t++ coal --
separately or is a mixture with other coal -- to onset tc elatervr
inc the coking capacity. Rooeatly, sines rseniviah Um ltapowari-
kov apparatus, it ha. been poesibld to deternirw th., plastscity
indexes of a larbe part of the tested coal as well.
These tests leave many gaps to bo filled. still no ca.plcte
research on petrography, tendency to cake, plasticity, -wellin,r
pressure, etc has been carried. lloreovar. the industrial coacentrs-
Lion testing has been conducted at the 'Lev' DIJI installations a:
the Plachkovtsi railroad station, which are still not fully rauippe.:.
and the resulting data cannot really be used in tnw :iral plaar.ias
of installations for the industrial concentration of ..url. the coke
testing was carried out in the coke compartment k:las of ins above
mentioned onterpriso, in which work is done without heat ro,enera-
Lion, at relatively low temperatures. It is well k:wwn, tanswer,
that modern furnaces are built mainly foe high temperature hoattu4.
Despite these gaps in the research, the results achieved rake
it possible to evaluate the coking capacity of the coal and to deter-
mine the possibility of its use as raw material in coke production.
The Institute for Technological Research on yuals an so tar
carried out more detailed research on the coal obtained from the
following regions: Kachulka, Chumerna ('thumerna" pit, "bivina" pit,
'Yoke" pit, and the "Kichesta" and "Sheshkingrad" sites), Trurditas,
and Butura. A certain amount of research has bean carried out by
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the institute, and by other organisations and individuals, an the
coals obtained from Placxhkovtsi and other regions of the Balkan
basin, and also from some other northwestern Bulgarian sites.
Coal from some sites has been tested in the USSR as well.
With few exceptions, the regular coal frow the sites
studied appears to have a high ash content. In general, the ash
content varies from 10% to 60%, mainly between 20% and 45%. The
sulfur c" tent varies between U.85% and 5%. and in some sites in
northwestern Bulgaria (Gorno Orzirovo) the sulfur content has been
over 10% in certain tests. Because of this, the coal from all
these sites must be concentrated before it is used for coking.
Some of the coal layers at numerous sites could not be used for
coking in any case, because after concentration this coal still
retains high ash or sulfur content. This further reduces the
quantities of coal suitable for coking, on the basis of the re-
serves of hard coal which have been studied.
In general, ailicium and aluminum oxides predominate in the
ash content of the coal and its concentrates. These contents make
the coal further unsuitable for coking.
In terms of sire as indicated by siftiag, the finer grades
of coal predominate. There is an average of 40% to 60%, mostly
50%, of coal of the 0 to 3 n grade, chile the percentage of large-
sine grade of coal decreases as the grade rises. Thus only a small
percentage, rarely even 10% to 15%, falls in the over 50-mm grade
category. In general, the ash content is low in the finer grades,
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and the sulfur content is high in the middle grades. However,
there is no sharp differentiation.
Coal lends itself to concentration in varying degrees, but
usually with difficulty. The concentrates which can be produced
from various coals vary between 30% and 70% -- mainly ?&i%. The
ash content of the concentrates is between 6% to 15-20%. Coal
which has been subjected to stronger metamorphoses (belonging to
the group of thin-caking coal) concentrates better, while coke and
fat coals of the Kachulka and other regions concentrate with
greater difficulty. For coals of the finer grades, concentration
has to be carried out at installations equipped for finer grades,
while the finest grades and residue will have to be enriched by
flotation.
The technological classification of the coal tested is de-
termined on the basis of the data provided by the research so far
conducted on the coal (production of volatile substances, kind of
coke residue, plasticity indexes, petrographic composition, and
coking capacity) in the compartments of the Plachkovtsi coke kilus,
to the Donets coal for grade classification of the Bulgarian coals,
we have: "Gas" (g) -- at some sites in Plachkovtsi region (Lev and
others); "Fat" (PO) -- at some sites in Plachkovtsi region and in
northwestern Bulgaria (Como Osirovo, Zelenigrad, etc); "Coke" to
"Fat" (K to PO) -- Xacbulka, Tantra-Iavor, etc; "Coke" -- (shesh-
kingrad, etc); "4MLn caking" (PS), with varying degrees of caking -
from rather high, close to that of coke, .o poor (Koko, Kichesta,
Tivina, Chumerna, Butura, and Tvurditsa); "Thin noncaking" (T) --
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roes sites in Tvurditsa region (Nadeahda), xarabair, etc. Further
research will be necessary to assess more accurate technical grad-
ing of the above. The data available at present indicates that
some of these types of coal fall into categories intermediate to
those described.above. Thin calls for more exhaustive testing of
tins coal from each site, as wall as a more fle.-.ible system of
grading.
The present classification, even though only preliminary,
shows that, in Bulgaria, we have all the technological grades (in-
cluding the basic grades, "coke" esd "fat") necessary for the com-
pilation of a proper mixture for the production of zaotallurgical
coke.
We mentioned earlier that experiments for coking Bulgarian
brown coal have been carried out in the German Democratic Republic,
France, and the Hungarian People's Republic. All of these experi-
ments were carried out in large laboratories. The coal was sub-
jected to various tests, particularly thorough experiments being
carried out on the so-called 2-step method of producing briquettes.
Basically, the method consists of the following operations: pre-
liminary low-temperature carbonization of the coal at temperatures
from 4300 to 650? C (to varying degrees according to the tempera-
ture). The low-temperature carbonization tar thus obtained helps
to make briquettes of the asmicoke of the coal, after which the
briquettes are coked. In some of the experiments, tests were also
made with the process of adding certain quantities of Bulgarian
hard "gas" coal. The coke thus obtained retained the briquette
fora and acquired various physical, chemical, and mechanical
qualities depending on the conditions maintained and the compon-
ents used.