Petroleum coke is a solid by-product of petroleum refining and is used in the production of carbon electrodes for the aluminum industry, graphite electrodes for steel making, as fuel in power generation, and as fuel for cement kilns. Petroleum coke is a chunky powdered carbon product derived from petroleum. If petroleum coke is heated to a high temperature, it may emit volatiles such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, which could be suspect carcinogens. Such exposures can occur in coke oven workers. North American production of petroleum coke or petcoke, as it's commonly known, has been steadily increasing since the late 80s. But innovations in bitumen extraction have allowed petcoke production to shoot up in recent years.
