The present study
focused on the development of a binder pitch
to allow for low-temperature forming processes when fabricating coke-based
artificial graphite blocks while increasing the density of the resultant
blocks. To this end, high-softening-point (200 °C) pitches were
fabricated. The pitch and byproducts obtained from the pitch synthesis
were then used as binders to fabricate blocks with high mechanical
strength and low porosity. Pitches were fabricated using pyrolyzed
fuel oil (PFO), a petroleum residue. A high-softening-point (200 °C)
pitch synthesized at 420 °C for 3 h was used as a binder pitch,
and conventional pitch (124 °C) was synthesized at 400 °C
for 1 h and then used. Pitch byproducts were extracted according to
the boiling point of naphthalene (two rings) and anthracene (three
rings) with varying numbers of aromatic rings by distillation. The
largest amount of pitch byproduct was obtained in the temperature
range from 220 to 340 °C, and the content of naphthalene in the
byproduct was the highest over the entire temperature range. The fabricated
pitches at 420 °C and byproducts were mixed to form modified
pitches. It was found that their softening point and coking value
(CV) decreased with the increasing content of the pitch byproduct.
Low-boiling point components of the byproducts were removed from the
modified pitches at the kneading process temperature (200 °C),
and the mass-loss rate observed in the carbonization process temperature
range (200–900 °C) was comparable to that of the high-softening-point
pitch. The kneading rate of the pitch and byproduct was determined
and selected based on the mass-loss rate described above, and blocks
were then fabricated using a hot press. Subsequently, the fabricated
blocks were subjected to heat treatment for carbonization (900 °C)
and graphitization (2700 °C). After the heat treatment, the true
density and apparent density of the blocks were measured, and the
porosity of the blocks was calculated based on these values. The porosity
of the graphite block fabricated using the pitch with a softening
point of 120 °C was 21.84%, while the porosity of the graphite
block fabricated using the modified pitch was 14.9%. For mechanical
strength analysis, their compressive strength was measured. The compressive
strength of the graphite block made of the conventional pitch (CP)
was measured to be 47.59 MPa, while the compressive strength of the
graphite block made of pitch mixed with a byproduct distilled at 220–340
°C was 58.79 MPa. This result suggested that a decrease in the
porosity resulted in increased mechanical strength. The application
of the modified pitches developed in the present study temporarily
decreased the softening point of the high-softening-point pitch due
to the effect of the added byproducts, allowing for a low-temperature
forming process. It was also possible to fabricate artificial graphite
blocks with low porosity due to the high CV of the high-softening-point
pitch. As a result, blocks with high mechanical strength could be
obtained.