Coke is critical as a source of heat and as a reducing agent in the iron-making process. Key considerations typically include: 1. **Coke Rate**: This is the measure of how much coke is used per unit of produced iron. Modern blast furnaces aim for a very low coke rate due to economic and environmental concerns [[3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/coke-rate)]. 2. **Coke Bed Voidage**: Calculating the voidage, or the gaps within the coke bed in the furnace, can be crucial for understanding gas flow and distribution which affects the furnace's efficiency [[6](https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/271210ac-7a0a-4bd4-922f-adc4b3feed25)]. 3. **Cohesive Zone Modeling**: Understanding the behavior of coke layers within the cohesive zone of the blast furnace (where coke and iron ore begin to soften and melt) is also part of these calculations. It affects the thermal and chemical efficiency of the furnace [[4](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7795097/)].