How are charcoal, coke, and carbon black produced?

Charcoal, coke, and carbon black are all forms of elemental carbon produced through the thermal decomposition of carbonaceous materials with limited access to oxygen.123

Charcoal

Charcoal is obtained as a residue when carbonaceous materials of vegetable or animal origin—such as wood or bone—are partially burned or heated in an environment with restricted air.13

Coke

Coke is produced by the carbonization of coal. In modern industrial processes, coal is heated in large, mechanized coke ovens for approximately 15 hours. Once the process is complete, the resulting red-hot coke is pushed from the ovens and cooled, either with water or by using circulating inert gases in a process known as dry quenching.24

Carbon Black

Carbon black is produced through the controlled, incomplete combustion or thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons. Specific methods include:5
* Channel or Impingement Black: Created by the impingement of smoky flames from tiny jets onto iron channels.5
* Furnace Blacks: Produced in refractory chambers via the incomplete combustion of gaseous or liquid hydrocarbons.5
* Thermal Blacks: Formed by decomposing hydrocarbons through contact with heated refractories in the absence of air.5
* Lampblack: Produced by burning oil in a furnace with a regulated draft to generate heavy smoke.5
* Acetylene Black: Created by the decomposition of preheated acetylene gas in refractory chambers without air.5