A series of explosions at U.S. Steel's Clairton works killed two people Monday and sent ten more to hospital. At least 20 EMS agencies and 14 local fire departments were called to the scene and the company reported that the incidents occured "specifically at coke oven batteries 13 and 14." About 1,300 people work at the Clairton plant, just south of Pittsburgh, and an investigation is underway. Local news station WTAE posted aerial footage of the scene, showing a section of the building in ruins.
VWTM helpfully explains that coke does not refer to "the popular soda" or recreational narcotics.
coke is utilized as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. A raw material, iron ore is turned into liquid iron in the steelmaking process.
The Clairton Plant, as well as other coking plants in the U.S. and around the world, converts coal to coke, a key component in the steel-making process. To make coke, coal is baked in special ovens, known as coke ovens, for hours at high temperatures to remove impurities that could otherwise weaken steel.
