Editing Coke (fuel) (section)

===Britain===
In 1589, a patent was granted to Thomas Proctor and William Peterson for making iron and [[steel]] and melting lead with "earth-coal, sea-coal, turf, and peat". The patent contains a distinct allusion to the preparation of coal by "cooking". In 1590, a patent was granted to the [[Dean of York]] to "purify pit-coal and free it from its offensive smell".<ref>{{cite web|title=CCHC—Your Portal to the Past|url=http://fayette.psu.edu/Information/Community/31281.htm|work=Coal and Coke Heritage Center|publisher=Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus|access-date=19 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523122125/http://fayette.psu.edu/Information/Community/31281.htm|archive-date=23 May 2013}}</ref> In 1620, a patent was granted to a company composed of William St.&nbsp;John and other knights, mentioning the use of coke in smelting ores and manufacturing metals. In 1627, a patent was granted to Sir John Hacket and Octavius de Strada for a method of rendering sea-coal and pit-coal as useful as [[charcoal]] for burning in houses, without offense by smell of smoke.<ref name=reports>{{cite book|last=Peckham|first=Stephen|title=Special Reports on Petroleum, Coke, and Building Stones|year=1880|publisher=United States Census Office. 10th census|page=53}}</ref>

In 1603, [[Hugh Plat]] suggested that coal might be charred in a manner analogous to the way [[charcoal]] is produced from wood. This process was not employed until 1642, when coke was used for roasting [[malt]] in [[Derbyshire]]; previously, brewers had used wood, as uncoked coal cannot be used in brewing because its sulphurous fumes would impart a foul taste to the [[beer]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Nersesian|first=Roy L|title=Energy for the 21st century|edition=2|year=2010|publisher=Sharpe|location=Armonk, NY|isbn=978-0-7656-2413-0|page=98|chapter=Coal and the Industrial Revolution}}</ref> It was considered an improvement in quality, and brought about an "alteration which all England admired"—the coke process allowed for a lighter roast of the malt, leading to the creation of what by the end of the 17th century was called [[pale ale]].<ref name=reports/>
[[File:Blast Furnaces at Blists Hill.jpg|thumb|The original blast furnaces at Blists Hill, [[Madeley, Shropshire|Madeley]]]]

In 1709, [[Abraham Darby&nbsp;I]] established a coke-fired [[blast furnace]] to produce [[cast iron]]. Coke's superior crushing strength allowed blast furnaces to become taller and larger. The ensuing availability of inexpensive [[iron]] was one of the factors leading to the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Before this time, iron-making used large quantities of charcoal, produced by burning wood. As the [[coppicing]] of forests became unable to meet the demand, the substitution of coke for charcoal became common in Great Britain, and coke was manufactured by burning coal in heaps on the ground so that only the outer layer burned, leaving the interior of the pile in a carbonized state. In the late 18th century, brick [[beehive oven]]s were developed, which allowed more control over the burning process.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Eileen Mountjoy|title=History of Coke|journal=Special Collections & Archives: Coal Dust, the Early Mining Industry of Indiana County|series=Indiana University of Pennsylvania|url=http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=86000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210073423/http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=86000|archive-date=10 February 2015}}</ref>

In 1768, [[John Wilkinson (industrialist)|John Wilkinson]] built a more practical oven for converting coal into coke.<ref>{{cite book|last2=Wittcoff|first1=M. M. |last1=Green |first2=H. A.|title=Organic chemistry principles and industrial practice|year=2003|publisher=Wiley-VCH|location=Weinheim|isbn=978-3-527-30289-5|edition=1. ed., 1. reprint.}}</ref> Wilkinson improved the process by building the coal heaps around a low central chimney built of loose bricks and with openings for the combustion gases to enter, resulting in a higher yield of better coke. With greater skill in the firing, covering and quenching of the heaps, yields were increased from about 33% to 65% by the middle of the 19th century. The Scottish iron industry expanded rapidly in the second quarter of the 19th century, through the adoption of the hot-blast process in its coalfields.<ref name=beaver>{{cite journal |last=Beaver|first=S. H.|title=Coke Manufacture in Great Britain: A Study in Industrial Geography|journal=Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers)|year=1951|series=The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers|issue= 17|pages=133–48|jstor=621295|doi=10.2307/621295}}</ref>

In 1802, a battery of beehive ovens was set up near [[Sheffield]], to coke the [[Coal seams of the South Yorkshire Coalfield|Silkstone coal seam]] for use in crucible steel melting. By 1870, there were 14,000 beehive ovens in operation on the [[Durham coalfield|West Durham coalfields]], producing 4,000,000 long tons of coke per year. As a measure of the expansion of coke making, the requirements of the [[History of the steel industry (1850–1970)#Britain|iron industry in Britain]] were about 1,000,000 tons per year in the early 1850s, rising to about 7,000,000 tons by 1880. Of these, about 5,000,000 tons were produced in Durham county, 1,000,000 tons in the South Wales coalfield, and 1,000,000 tons in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.<ref name=beaver/>
[[File:41018 Schiefe Ebene Nov 5 2016.png|thumb|[[DRB Class 41|41 018]] of the [[Deutsche Reichsbahn#1937: Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB)|Deutsche Reichsbahn]] climbing the famous [[Schiefe Ebene]], 2016]]

In the first years of [[steam locomotive]]s, coke was the normal fuel. This resulted from an early piece of environmental legislation; any proposed locomotive had to "consume its own smoke".<ref>[[Railways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845]] ([[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. 20) section 114</ref> This was not technically possible to achieve until the [[Firebox (steam engine)#Brick arch|firebox arch]] came into use, but burning coke, with its low smoke emissions, was considered to meet the requirement. This rule was quietly dropped, and cheaper coal became the normal fuel, as railways gained acceptance among the public. The smoke plume produced by a travelling locomotive seems now to be a mark of a steam railway, and so preserved for posterity.

So-called "gas works" produced coke by heating coal in enclosed chambers. The flammable gas that was given off was stored in [[gas holder]]s, to be used domestically and industrially for cooking, heating and lighting. The gas was commonly known as "[[town gas]]" since underground networks of pipes ran through most towns. It was replaced by "[[natural gas]]" (initially from the [[North Sea oil]] and gas fields) in the decade after 1967.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} Other byproducts of coke production included tar and ammonia, while the coke was used instead of coal in cooking ranges and to provide heat in domestic premises before the advent of [[central heating]].