Production of vapor grown carbon fiber using high sulfur coal as a feedstock
- Applied Sciences, Inc., Cedarville, OH (United States)
Vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF) is a highly graphitic fiber production in a CVD process from the pyrolysis of hydrocarbons in the gas phase. The high degree of graphitic perfection and high aspect ratio indicate that this type of fiber may be a superior reinforcement for several composite applications. The elimination of multiple processing steps used for conventional carbon fiber production and the use of inexpensive hydrocarbon feedstocks combine to promise a significant reduction of cost in the production of carbon fiber reinforcements. Such a development would enable widespread use of carbon fiber reinforced composites in automotive, electronics, aerospace, and sports applications. It has been shown in earlier work that adding equimolar quantities of sulfur such as hydrogen sulfide to the catalytic iron particles significantly increases the nucleation rate of carbon filaments; however, hydrogen sulfide is very toxic, corrosive, and flammable. The authors have shown that coal from the Ohio Upper Freeport Seam, containing 2.5% sulfur, can be used as a convenient and inexpensive source of both hydrocarbon and sulfur in the process for the production of vapor grown carbon fiber. Furthermore, there is evidence that the sulfur becomes entrapped in the carbon fiber catalyst, and does not exit the reactor in the form of sulfur oxides.
- OSTI ID:
- 43167
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940930-; TRN: IM9521%%333
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 11. annual international Pittsburgh coal conference: coal, energy and the environment, Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 12-16 Sep 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Eleventh annual international Pittsburgh coal conference proceedings: Volume 1; Chiang, S.H. [ed.]; PB: 828 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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