Determination of Crystallite Size and Its Effect on Sulfur Content, CO₂ Reactivity, and Specific Electrical Resistance of Coke

The average crystallite size (LC) is an important property of carbon materials for aluminum electrolysis. LC is a useful factor to characterize the petroleum coke (PC) calcination level and in some cases to estimate the baking level of anodes. CO₂ reactivity of coke and specific electrical resistance (SER) are two important parameters in manufacturing of anode in aluminum industries. In addition, the amount of sulfur and calcination temperature of coke is very effective factors playing an impressive role in the quality of anode. It is demonstrated that coke calcination with different sulfur levels can affect L_C, CO₂ reactivity, and specific electrical resistance (SER). Many types of coke samples calcinated in different temperatures were examined in this study. The results showed that increasing sulfur percentage will lead to rise in LC level; however, it had a reverse effect on both CO₂ and SER reactivity. All obtained results were compared and the researchers believe that the best range of L_C is between 29.5  and 33.5 A°.