In 1817, John Cockerill, an Englishman, set up a steel mill and built the first blast furnaces on coke (instead of charcoal), using coal mined in the region.
He wants to start producing steel for his looms.In 1850 the factory was even the largest in the world. For a century, Cockerill was to be an important linchpin in the economy.
Coke is produced by dry distillation of coal. The ground coal is heated to 1000 degrees Celsius in an oxygen-free environment.
This causes the hydrocarbon compounds to crack and substances such as hydrogen gas, methane, tar and benzene are formed.
Coke is mainly used to reduce iron ore in a blast furnace to pig iron.Due to the economic crisis, activities in the factory were slowly reduced. The demand for steel decreased.
Two years after the closure, the blast furnaces were briefly restarted, but in 2011 the new owner decided to shut down the blast furnaces for good.
There are still driving and security on the site and there are sensors available so it is very good to look out and there are also only a few options for safe access on the site than is provided with fences and many rolls of barbed wire /There are also copper thieves who do not want to be disturbed in their work, but instead point us where we could take pictures quietly. (also in their own interest not to be caught).
