【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】The technology for producing general-grade asphalt and carbon fiber filaments from coal-based heavy products, 2200–2025, has passed evaluation
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Give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical technology and equipment sector; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Progress in Chemical Equipment】Regular updates and summaries are available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html ***************** Recently, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation organized an evaluation meeting on the technological achievement related to \"the technology for producing general-purpose asphalt carbon fiber filaments from coal-based heavy products\" at the Shanxi Coal Chemistry Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as \"Shanxi Coal Chemistry Institute\"). This technology was developed by the Shanxi Coal Chemistry Institute. The experts on the appraisal committee consist of seven members: Researcher Wang Jianguo from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Li Jinping from Taiyuan University of Technology, Professor Weng Duan from Tsinghua University, Researcher Tan Yisheng from Fuzhou University, Professor Zhao Jianguo from Datong University, Professor-level Senior Engineer Shen Zhigang from the Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology, Sinopec Corporation, and Researcher Sun Jian from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Zeng Chunyang, deputy director of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, the organizing body of the conference, attended the meeting. More than 20 people attended the meeting, including Fang Yitian, director of the Shanxi Coal Chemistry Institute and the entity responsible for completing the project; Chen He, deputy director of the Science and Technology Development Department; Researcher Shen Wenzhong, head of the 904 project team, and its team members. Wang Jianguo served as the chairman of the appraisal committee and presided over the meeting. Fang Yitian delivered the opening speech first, while Shen Wenzhong, on behalf of the project team, gave a detailed presentation on the organization and implementation of the \"Technology for Producing General-Purpose Asphalt Carbon Fiber Filaments from Coal-Based Heavy Products\", the research and development process, the technical achievements and features, as well as the intellectual property involved. The theoretical basis of this technical achievement elucidates the mechanisms for the separation and structural regulation of aromatic hydrocarbons in coal-based heavy products, gradient thermal polycondensation, core-shell suppression, and the control of micro- and nano-defects in carbon fibers. The technically developed continuous aromatic hydrocarbon separation device enables the adjustment of the chemical composition and structure of aromatic hydrocarbons, thus creating a structural modification technique that allows for the controlled thermopolymerization of aromatic hydrocarbons to produce spinnable pitch ； The developed melt spinning apparatus, high-temperature centrifugal spinning apparatus, and spinning technologies enable continuous spinning, gradient non-melting treatment, and negative-pressure carbonization, thereby suppressing the core-shell structure and creating a fiber precursor non-melting and carbonization technology. For the first time, a full-process demonstration of the production of general-grade pitch carbon fibers from coal-based heavy products was developed and implemented, thereby establishing independent intellectual property rights for the entire manufacturing process of general-grade pitch carbon fibers. The experts from the appraisal committee listened to the progress reports submitted by the implementing unit, and, taking into account the results of on-site assessments of the continuous operation of the technical equipment, reviewed relevant technical documents such as work reports, research reports, novelty search reports, and reports on application and dissemination. Following inquiries and discussions, the experts unanimously agreed that a complete set of technologies and equipment for the entire process – including coal-based asphalt refining, spinnable asphalt preparation, continuous melt spinning, non-melting treatment, and carbonization – has been developed, and a demonstration plant for producing general-purpose asphalt carbon fiber filaments with an annual capacity of 10 tons has been built ； The technology behind this achievement is generally at the international advanced level; in particular, the strength and length parameters of coal-based general-purpose asphalt carbon fiber filaments are at the international leading level. This technological achievement was supported by projects such as the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences titled “Technology and Demonstration for the Production of General-Purpose Asphalt Carbon Fibers from Coal-Based Heavy Products” (XDA29050400), the Key Research and Development Program titled “Structure Regulation of Asphaltene Derived from Low-Rank Coal and Its Use in the Production of Asphalt Carbon Fibers” (2016YFE0203500), and the Shanxi Province Key Research and Development Program titled “Scientific Foundations and Technologies for the Large-Scale Production of Coal-Based Asphalt Carbon Fibers” (201903D421028).
At this forum, Professor Shen Wenzhong from the Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, will deliver a keynote speech on the latest advancements in the technology for producing general-purpose asphalt carbon fibers. Professor Shen Wenzhong has spent many years working on the structural modification and applications of porous carbon materials, the efficient utilization of coal-based heavy products, and the development of pitch carbon fibers. The Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, located in Taiyuan, can be regarded as one of the institutions in China that began researching pitch-based carbon fibers at an early stage. Professor Shen Zengmin from the research institute (who later served as honorary director of the Carbon Fiber and Composite Materials Research Institute at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, supervisor of doctoral students, advisor to the Carbon Fiber Engineering Technology Research Center, and member of the Composite Materials Committee of the Chinese Aeronautical Society) ； Awarded the title of Outstanding Young and Middle-Aged Expert of ** level in 1988, as well as honors such as “National Advanced Worker in Defense Chemical Industry” by the former Ministry of Chemical Industry in 1990); he pioneered the research, development, and production of general-purpose asphalt carbon fibers in China (300 kg/year), for which he received the Second Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Asphalt-based carbon fibers are a type of carbon fiber produced using materials rich in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as asphalt, through processes like polymerization, spinning, non-fusion, and carbonization. Based on differences in their properties, they are further divided into general-purpose asphalt carbon fibers and high-performance asphalt carbon fibers. Asphalt suitable as a raw material for carbon fibers should have low levels of heteroatoms and ash impurities, a high carbon content, certain rheological properties to meet the requirements of spinning, and high chemical reactivity to satisfy the needs of the non-melting treatment process.
However, the asphalt raw materials commonly used fail to meet the above requirements. On one hand, coal-based asphalt has a complex molecular structure and composition; its various components have different reaction activities, and it contains large amounts of heteroatoms such as oxygen and sulfur, as well as quinoline-insoluble impurities. This makes it difficult to control the orderliness of molecular polycondensation in coal-based asphalt, as well as the formation of an ordered structure in mesophase asphalt. On the other hand, coal-based asphalt contains a higher proportion of highly aromatic hydrocarbons with fewer and shorter fatty chains, unlike petroleum asphalt, which contains a higher proportion of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with longer fatty chains. Differences in molecular structure and composition significantly affect the liquid-phase carbonization behavior, thereby determining the morphological evolution of the intermediate phase. This intermediate phase represents an intermediate stage in the formation of graphitic structures, and it has a decisive influence on the graphitization process of carbon fibers. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce or modify inappropriate asphalt components or molecular groups on the basis of a thorough understanding of the interrelationships between the molecular chemical structure and physical properties of various raw asphalts, in order to regulate the ordered structure of the spinnable mesophase asphalt and meet the basic requirements for using it as a raw material for producing asphalt-based carbon fibers.
At the 4th Symposium on Chemistry and Technology of Energy Conversion in 2021, Professor Shen Wenzhong presented the progress made by the Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in the field of technology for producing coal-based pitch carbon fibers. In his report, Professor Shen pointed out that coal tar pitch or petroleum pitch contains 40–50% aromatic hydrocarbons, and due to its high degree of aromatization and carbon content, it tends to polymerize or cross-link. Using the aromatic hydrocarbons present in coal tar pitch as raw materials to synthesize high-quality spinnable pitch represents a new technological approach for the efficient utilization of coal tar pitch and for the production of pitch-based carbon fibers. By utilizing coal tar pitch, coal liquefaction residues, etc., and through controlled thermal extraction and low-temperature pyrolysis processes, the composition and molecular structure of aromatic hydrocarbons can be designed and controlled at the molecular level. This allows for regulation of their thermopolymerization behavior, reaction processes, and reaction products, thereby enabling control over the structural and molecular properties of the pitch. To meet the application requirements of pitch-based carbon fibers, the process parameters are designed and adjusted from the outset in order to control their structure and properties.
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