Question

Coke is used in the manufacturing of:
(A) Lead
(B) Copper
(C) Steel
(D) Iron

Answer 1

Hint: Coke is a by-product of coal; it is not a fossil fuel. Coke is hard, grey in colour, and a fuel contains pores with great carbon content with fewer impurities. Coke is going to be used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in the smelting of the iron ore.

Complete step by step solution:
-Whenever we are going to do combustion of coke it produces carbon monoxide gas (CO).
-The formed carbon monoxide gas reduces iron oxide and produces steel in high purity.
-The representation of the reduction of iron oxide by carbon monoxide is as follows.
\[\underset{\text{Iron oxide}}{\mathop{F{{e}_{2}}{{O}_{3}}}}\,+\underset{\text{Carbon Monoxide}}{\mathop{3CO}}\,\xrightarrow{{}}\underset{\text{Iron in steel}}{\mathop{2Fe}}\,+3C{{O}_{2}}\]
-In the above chemical reaction Iron oxide reacts with three moles of carbon monoxide and produces steel and carbon dioxide as the byproduct.
-Coke is supposed to be added to the blast furnace at the time of preparation of steel from iron.
-When coke is used up it produces a high amount of heat and little smoke, making it is suitable for the smelting of steel.
-Therefore coke is used in the manufacturing of Steel.

So, the correct option is C.

Note: Before the 1880s, steel was manufactured by using charcoal as a reducing agent. By 1920, approximately 90% of the steel was manufactured using coke in the US. Burning of Coke is going to be a big advantage for the removal of impurities from steel during its manufacturing.