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coke, hard, gray, massive, porous fuel prepared by the destructive distillation of bituminous coal, much used when a porous fuel with few impurities and high carbon content is desired, as in the blast furnace. Coke bears the same relation to coal as does charcoal to wood. The preparation of coke in beehive ovens results in the loss of volatile byproducts. Only a small amount is still made by this method. For industrial purposes, coke is prepared in retorts or furnaces of silica brick, and the byproducts (chiefly ammonia, coal tar, and gaseous compounds) are saved. Petroleum coke is the solid residue left by the cracking process of oil refining. Natural coke, or carbonite, is formed by metamorphism from bituminous coal when intrusive igneous rock cuts across a vein of coal.
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