Beginning on Wednesday, U.S. Steel Corp. will start removing coke from the two coke batteries impacted by the Aug. 11 explosion that killed two employees and injured 10 others.

When the coke is removed, the company said it will “inspect for any damage to the ovens and determine if they can be repaired.”

The ovens are used to bake coal at a very high temperature in the absence of oxygen until it releases elements considered impurities and concentrates the carbon embedded in it. There are rows of ovens in each battery.

U.S. Steel said batteries 13 and 14 will be placed on “hot idle” — their mechanical systems will be operating but they won’t be producing coke. Equipment is hot idled to maintain its ability to function in the future.

“We expect this process to take a few days, and we do n

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