Refined coal tar
pitch is considered as a promising material for
the production of needle coke owing to its excellent physical–chemical
properties. It was generally accepted that the basic properties of
refined coal pitch played a vital role in affecting the resulting
quality of the derived needle coke during the delayed coking process.
Our previous research showed that an f
a of 0.95–0.98 of refined coal pitch was optimal and produced
needle coke of the highest quality. What is more, we found that the
contents of β resin in refined pitch were also important to
the properties (microstructure, microstrength, and true density) of
the derived needle coke. Therefore, the effects of the contents of
β resin on the properties of needle coke were investigated thoroughly,
and eight types of refined coal pitch (the f
a range from 0.9621 to 0.9725) with varied contents of β
resin were employed as the precursors of needle coke. The techniques
of proton nuclear magnetic resonance and gel permeation chromatography
were utilized to determine the f
a and
molecular weight of each refined coal pitch, respectively. Microstructures
(optical microstructure and surface morphology) have been analyzed
by polarizing microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, separately.
X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, and curve-fitting enabled the quantitative
examination of the microcrystalline structure. What is more, the microstrength
and true density of each needle coke have also been examined in this
study. It was concluded that a β resin content of 13–16%
in the refined coal pitch achieved the best results and was optimal
for needle coke production.
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