Technology of Petroleum Needle Coke Production in Processing of Decantoil with the Use of Polystyrene as a Polymeric Mesogen Additive

The results of experimental investigations on the coking of decanted heavy gasoil of catalytic cracking with polystyrene in a certain concentration range to obtain petroleum needle coke with the most developed string-base anisotropic structure and a microstructure point of at least 6.2 corresponding to the super-premium grade are presented. Certain regularities have been established to improve the structural quality index of the resulting needle coke from the optimal content of polystyrene in the base raw material, including the extreme dependence of the quality indices of needle coke on the polystyrene content (10 wt %). The decrease in the quality indices of the obtained carbon material is a consequence of uncontrolled changes toward an increase in the system viscosity performance (the viscosity increases 2.7 times). The experimentally obtained coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of needle coke-synthesized samples within the temperature range of 40-500 degrees C showed a reducing trend in CTE depending on the polymer additive proportion in the feedstock; for example, at 300 degrees C, the CTE decreases to 5.732 x 10(-6) degrees C-1.

Automated summary

Experimental investigations showed that the quality indices of needle coke are significantly affected by the content of polystyrene in the base raw material. The coefficient of thermal expansion of synthesized samples decreases within the temperature range of 40-500 degrees C, depending on the polymer additive proportion in the feedstock.