Physicochemical properties and structural evolutions of gas-phase carbonization chars at high temperatures

The gas-phase carbonization chars from hydrocarbons with low molecular weight (anthracene oil and petroleum ether) were prepared using a drop tube reactor at 1000–1200 °C, and their physicochemical properties and structural evolutions (elemental composition, carbon crystallite structure, surface morphology, pore structure and chemical composition of volatile matters) were mainly investigated. The chars obtained in the high temperature region, which appeared with high C/H atomic ratio and poor carbon crystallite structure far from natural graphite, could be used as high carbonaceous materials. The chars were composed of uniform spherical particles with a continuous pore size distribution. The average pore diameters of the chars were much smaller and in the rage of 5.0–8.7 nm. The increasing carbonization temperature led to an initial increasing and a sequent decreasing of specific surface areas from mico–meso-pores and an increasing of those from meso–macro-pores in the chars. The volatile matters in the chars were composed of an easily-extracted fraction (CS2-soluble compounds with three to six aromatic rings) and a hard-extracted fraction (CS2-insoluble compounds with higher aromaticity). The elevated carbonization temperature led to diminish the two volatile fractions. A liquid core formation mechanism was proposed to explain the gas-phase carbonization process of hydrocarbons.