Synthesis and evaluation of petroleum-based impregnating pitch for production of high-performance artificial graphite

• Published in: Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry (Seoul, Korea) 2023, 128(0), , pp.404-411
• Main Authors: Ha, Seung-Jae, Lee, Hyo-Cheol, Jo, Min-Seong, Jeon, Young-Pyo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artificial graphite; Coal tar-based pitch; Impregnation pitch; Petroleum-based pitch; Pyrolysis fuel oil; 화학공학
• ISSN: 1226-086X; 1876-794X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiec.2023.08.004

[Display omitted] The pitch impregnation process enhances the properties of synthetic graphite by optimizing their physical structure of channels and pores generated during heat treatment. Synthesizing a well-balanced molecular structure of impregnation pitch (IP) is essential for facilitating impregnation and obtaining a high carbonization yield. However, achieving this delicate balance is exceptionally challenging due to the inherent trade-off relationship between these factors. To resolve this issue, we propose a stepwise pitch synthesis recipe and the molecular weight distribution (MWD) tailoring, specifically applied to the petroleum IP from pyrolysis fuel oil (PFO). The stepwise recipe is composed of a pressurized pretreatment step applied to increase production yield and coking value, followed by a thermal polymerization step. The tailoring process is systematically designed to obtain the best performing petroleum IP by effectively removing impregnation inhibitor. Our study highlights the potential benefits of using petroleum-based pitch for impregnation processes in manufacturing of artificial graphite. The impregnation performance was enhanced by 6.7% and carbonation yield was notably improved by 16.2% relative to the coal-tar derived commercial IP. Our results show that tailoring the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of the impregnating pitch enhances impregnation performance by 1.88% compared to the raw IP.