Abstract
The purpose of this research is to obtain several types of carbon materials from petroleum residues. When the residues are heat-treated at a temperature between 400 and 450°C, thermal cracking takes place that produces petroleum pitch. As cracking proceeds, a large number of optically anisotropic mesophase spherules appear in the petroleum pitch. Those spherules can be separated from the pitch as a quinoline insoluble matter, and the spherules thus separated are called meso-carbon microbeads. The microbeads can be used as a binder pitch improver and as a raw material for production of dense carbon solids. On the other hand, the petroleum pitch can be used as a binder pitch for carbon electrodes, as a binder for coke and as a coke improver by heat-treating under appropriate conditions. Moreover, the petroleum residues and the petroleum pitch can be used as solvents for coal.
