Introduction and Production Process of the Graphite Electrode

The graphite electrode is a kind of conductive material used in the industry of metallurgical steel-making and it is mainly used in the process of steel-making by the electric furnace.

1. What is the graphite electrode?

The graphite electrode is a type of conductive medium used as the two ends of inputting or outputting the electric current. And this type of conductive medium is made of the material of graphite. During the electric furnace steelmaking process, it is necessary to transform the energy of electricity into heat to make the thermal melting steel. In the past, copper electrodes were always used as conductive materials. With the development of technology, graphite electrodes have gradually replaced copper electrodes. Graphite electrodes inserted into the furnace need to be highly resistant to high-temperature, and the high-temperature resistance of the graphite electrode is 3 to 4 times than that of the copper electrode.

Graphite electrode is a kind of material with the features of electrical conductivity, high-temperature resistance and corrosion resistance and it is easy to be processed. Graphite electrode is widely used in the field of metallurgy, electrochemistry, chemical industry, etc. It is a type of conductive material used in the process of steel-making by electric furnaces. It uses petroleum coke and pitch coke as the main materials, coal tar pitch as the binder. And then these materials are mixed in a certain proportion. Graphite electrode is a kind of conductive material made of high temperature resistant graphite which is formed by calcination, batching, graphitization and mechanical processing so it is also called artificial graphite electrode. There are also natural graphite electrodes in nature, but they are very rare.

2. The production process of the graphite electrodes

The production process of graphite electrodes is relatively complicated and the technical requirements of them are very high. Dozens of processing steps are needed before they can be made. At the same time, the ratio of raw materials also exerts a great influence on the quality of graphite electrodes.

The production process of graphite electrodes:

Raw material - calcination - sieving - batching - mixing and kneading - pressing - roasting - graphitization - processing and forming, etc.