Use of petroleum coke and use of calcined petroleum coke

By:Win Jan 19, 2021
75% of the world's petroleum coke is used as fuel, with the rest used mainly as raw materials for the carbon industry.

What is petroleum coke?

Petroleum passes through a coking unit, being cooked at 500~550℃ to produce black solid coke. Coke is irregularly shaped black particles with metallic luster. The particles of coke have a porous structure which closes to natural graphite with low resistance and high bulk density, so petroleum coke is the raw material for graphite electrodes.
Petroleum coke structure drawing
Petroleum coke structure drawing

Petroleum coke use

Petroleum coke is a surplus product of petroleum refining, has a wide range of applications: fuels and calcined coke (graphite electrodes, pre-baked anodes, electrode pastes, special graphite, glass, paint and fertilizers).
Petroleum coke is also called green coke, which is generally made by a delayed coking process at 500℃. Calcined coke is produced by calcining green coke at 1350℃.
Petroleum coke is classified into high-sulfur coke (sulfur>4%), medium-sulfur coke (2%<sulfur<4%), and low-sulfur coke (sulfur<2%) according to the level of sulfur content. Medium-sulfur coke is widely used in aluminum smelting. High-sulfur coke is used in chemical production, such as the manufacture of calcium carbide and silicon carbide, and as a fuel for metal casting. Low-sulfur coke is mainly used for aluminum smelting and graphite production.

Calcined petroleum coke use

Calcined petroleum coke is mainly used in the production of graphite electrodes, carbon paste products, diamond sand, food-grade phosphorus industry, metallurgical industry and calcium carbide, among which the most widely used is the raw material for graphite electrodes.