Coal tar and petroleum pitches as binders for Soderberg electrodes. [10 refs]

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976 · Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem., Prepr.; (United States)

OSTI ID:7158520

King, L F; Robertson, W D

Improved binders for Soderberg electrodes were prepared by incorporating a small amount of a rubber reinforcing grade carbon black in catalytically cracked petroleum residua. Inferior coal tar pitch binders were similarly up-graded. Commercial pelletized carbon blacks required high-speed mixing, e.g., in a colloid mill, to break up particle agglomerates. Settling of carbon black from the pitch in heated storage was negligible. At a concentration of 2.5 to 5 percent in a cracked petroleum pitch, furnace blacks, unlike the larger particle size thermal grades, imparted high mechanical and thermal stability to Soderberg paste. This resulted in baked test electrodes with consistently high density and compressive strength. Binder requirements for paste fluidity were the same as for coal tar pitch (ca. 30 percent). Differences in the flow properties of Soderberg pastes under extremely low stresses were ascribed to the pseudoplasticity of petroleum binders versus the Newtonian behavior of coal tar pitch. The spreading of paste made with a cracked petroleum pitch was improved to almost that of coal tar by incorporating 5 percent of a thermally cracked pitch, which reduced the pseudoplasticity. A commercial trial in a Soderberg anode was favorable and indicated that the petroleum binder had lower volatility than coal tar pitch.

• Research Organization: Imperial Oil Enterprises Ltd., Sarnia, Ont.
• OSTI ID: 7158520
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem., Prepr.; (United States) Journal Volume: 18:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010500* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Products & By-Products
02 PETROLEUM
020500 -- Petroleum-- Products & By-Products
BINDERS
CARBON
CARBON BLACK
CATALYSIS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL TAR
CRACKING
DECOMPOSITION
ELASTOMERS
ELECTRODES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MIXING
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
PITCHES
POLYMERS
PYROLYSIS
RUBBERS
TAR
VOLATILITY