Polymer-modified Needle Coke Properties Formation During High Temperature Calcination

The composition and physicochemical properties of the delayed coking feed have a decisive influence on the qualitative characteristics of the resulting needle coke, which is formed both at the stage of liquid-phase thermolysis and at the stage of high-temperature calcination. In this paper, the effect of modification of hydrocarbon feedstock with polymeric mesogen additive on high-temperature calcination of needle coke in the temperature range of 600-1600 °С was studied. Changes in the structure formation of needle coke during high-temperature calcination as a function of feedstock modification and calcination temperature were determined by SEM, XRD, CHN, XRF and Raman spectroscopy, as well as by methods of complex study of physicochemical properties. At lower calcination temperatures (1200°C), needle coke from modified feedstock achieves a higher degree of carbonization compared to needle coke from unmodified feedstock (1400°C), which reduces the heat load on the calcining furnace while maintaining the quality of the resulting needle coke for the production of premium grades of graphite electrodes. Modification of needle coke raw material with polystyrene and calcination of the resulting raw needle coke at 1200°C provided the resulting electrodes electrical resistivity 7.1 (µΩ⋅m) and СTE20-520 = 0.897 * 10-6 K-1.