Dalian Institute's petroleum based high-end carbon materials were commended
Recently, China Petroleum&Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) announced a commendation decision, and the petroleum based high-end carbon materials team of Sinopec (Dalian) Petrochemical Research Institute Co., Ltd. was awarded the 2023 Sinopec Excellent Innovation Team.
The team was established in 2014 and has undergone nearly 10 years of continuous innovation and development. It has undertaken more than 20 national and Sinopec science and technology projects, applied for more than 200 invention patents, and developed the "THTD catalytic oil slurry production high-quality needle coke technology", which has achieved "zero breakthrough" in Sinopec's stable production of high-quality needle coke and achieved excellent application performance.
In 2024, the needle coke production plant of Sinopec Jinling Branch, which adopts the technology of Sinopec Dalian Institute, aims to produce needle coke for ultra-high power (UHP) graphite electrodes, with a focus on optimizing the "coke pulling" heat supply, and reducing the volatile matter of needle coke products to 4 wt.%- 6wt.%， The particle strength remains stable at 25 wt.% Above, reaching the level of high-end coke abroad and receiving recognition from the Science and Technology Department and Refining Division of Sinopec, this is a new breakthrough in the high-end carbon material technology of Dalian Institute.
Petroleum based high-end carbon materials have been a long-term research direction adhered to by Sinopec Dalian Institute. For many years, the innovation team of petroleum based high-end carbon materials has always focused on the key needs of national and industry development, anchored the requirements of Sinopec's "one foundation, two wings, and three new" industrial pattern, built a high-quality development foundation with innovation, and served the high-end transformation and development of the refining business as the driving force. Focusing on key issues and common platform technologies such as refinement and high value-added utilization of petroleum refining by-products, we are committed to developing a series of new functional carbon material application technologies that are compatible with traditional energy exploration and emerging high-end industries. The team actively builds a platform technology system for preparing petroleum based carbon material products, further develops the basic theory of carbon materials, and strengthens the systematic integration of new technologies.
In recent years, the team has focused on the structural shortage of China's new materials industry and the insufficient supply of high-end carbon materials, and has built three technology platforms: liquid-phase carbonization, solid-phase activation, and gas-phase deposition. The liquid-phase carbonization platform has developed high-quality needle coke technology, intermediate phase asphalt technology, intermediate phase carbon microsphere technology, lithium battery negative electrode material technology, and asphalt based carbon fiber technology; The solid-phase activation platform has developed technologies for petroleum coke based porous carbon materials, supercapacitor carbon, and sodium negative electrode materials; The vapor deposition platform has developed CVD diamond thick film cutting element technology and BDD electrode technology. The team has a series of equipment for the preparation, analysis, and application performance testing of petroleum based carbon materials, and has the ability to develop various new carbon materials based on liquid-phase, solid-phase, and gas-phase raw materials. It has formed a research team with clear research direction, strong professional quality, excellent innovation ability, and reasonable age structure.
Technological progress requires continuous innovation. On the basis of developing the "THTD catalytic slurry production high-quality needle coke technology" with independent intellectual property rights and advanced technology, the team is committed to "gnawing on" the "hard bone" of needle coke for lithium battery negative electrode materials, focusing on regulating the formation of graphite like microcrystals in the intermediate phase, and striving to make the specific capacity of needle coke products meet the high-end needs of downstream negative electrode material enterprises. In addition, the team conducted research on the preparation of intermediate phase asphalt and asphalt based carbon fiber technology using catalytic oil slurry, and obtained 100% intermediate phase asphalt products with a single hole spinning length exceeding 10000 meters. They also led the successful application for a major scientific and technological project at Sinopec with the development of "spinnable asphalt and intermediate phase asphalt based carbon fiber technology". The team has completed the development of a two-stage process for preparing high surface area activated carbon from high sulfur petroleum coke, using a commercially viable "soft carbon hardening" strategy. They are the first to develop a petroleum coke based sodium anode material preparation technology, and the reversible specific capacity and first week coulombic efficiency of the product have reached leading levels.
The carbon materials industry in our country is currently in a booming stage of development, and the research on petroleum based carbon materials is timely. We will always be committed to the research and development of high-end petroleum based carbon materials technology, based on carbon material technology, extending and laying out the entire industry chain of battery materials, electrode materials, and battery energy storage, promoting the deep integration of innovation chain, industry chain, capital chain, and talent chain, and providing technological support for the high-quality development of the company, "said Song Yongyi, Director of the 14th Research Office of Sinopec Dalian Institute.
