A Proud History.... A Bright Future

Bethlehem Coke Ovens of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 1997. 8 minutes Metallurgical coke is produced by baking bituminous coal in a series of slot-type ovens comprising a “battery” of ovens. At its peak, there were 5 batteries totaling approximately 500 ovens in operation at the Bethlehem Plant. During the coking process, which could last from 18 to 106 hours depending on production levels and reach oven temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees, the coke produced became almost pure carbon. After the coking cycle for each oven was completed, the oven doors were removed and the hot coke was mechanically pushed from the oven, quenched with water to extinguish the flames and cool it to allow further handling. It was then loaded onto railroad cars to be taken to the Blast Furnaces, other customers, or placed into storage. Gases driven from the coal during coking were processed, collected, and sold for use in manufacturing a diverse array of products from cosmetics to fertilizer. The cleaned coke oven gas was used in heating the coke oven batteries and various gas-fired furnace throughout the Bethlehem Plant.