Graphite production gets a makeover

(Press-News.org) Collaboration efforts between the Texas A&M University Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) have led to innovative research on how petroleum coke is processed.

This almost $3 million three-year research project will convert petroleum coke to graphite for energy storage. The newer process uses a lower temperature and shorter time to produce graphite from petroleum coke. 

This new catalytic graphitization technology will decrease the emissions, cost, and processing time associated with conventional synthetic graphite production. 

The research team includes groups from Associate Department Head Dr. Micah Green, Associate Professor Dr. Faruque Hasan, and the National Energy Technology Laboratory. 

The project is part of the ARPA-E VISION OPEN program that looks to transform energy in critical areas across the energy spectrum, like nuclear fusion, grid reliability and approaches to developing chemicals and fuels, according to the ARPA-E website.   

Petroleum coke is produced from crude oil. Petroleum coke can then be turned into graphite through a long, high-temperature process, Green said. 

Ultimately, this new study looks to develop new technologies to process petroleum coke to graphite where it converts fossil feedstocks into valuable carbon products rather than fuels.

“Our grant is about changing the process by using catalysts so we can make petroleum coke into synthetic graphite that's good for applications like batteries and for reducing American reliance on foreign sources of graphite,” Green said.

Graphite is valuable for its use in batteries. If converted from petroleum coke, this approach could lead to new sources for components in Li-ion batteries, according to the ARPA-E website. 

“We are not only just solving one problem, in a sense this also reduces emissions,” Hasan said.

Typically, the process involves heating petroleum coke to 3000 °C in a days-long process where the petroleum coke is formed into a powder. It is then mixed with an iron powder and is heat-treated.  

“My group is very involved in the actual synthesis and developing the catalyst and showing how that process can be scaled up,” Green said. “We have already done some proof-of-concept experiments at the lab scale, but to transition into industry, we need to show that it can be done at a large scale.” 

Hasan's group plans on analyzing the technology for its impact in terms of reducing cost, life cycle emissions, and greenhouse gases. 

With new technologies, challenges arise to scale-up due to lack of reliable designs and estimates on their techno-economic viability at different scales, Hansan said. The goal is to bridge this gap.

“My group specializes in computational modeling, simulation and optimization of emerging technologies,” Hasan said. “In particular, we will determine optimal process design and operability domains for this exciting new technology developed in Dr. Green’s lab for producing highly value-added chemical products from petroleum coke in a sustainable manner.” 

Once the scaleup demonstration is successful, an industry partner, Oxbow Carbon, will do pilot-plant runs for the preliminary assessment for large-scale processing.

By Raven Wuebker, Texas A&M Engineering

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