Graphite Electrodes from Petroleum Coke and Pitch

Graphite electrodes carry the current that melts scrap steel in electric arc furnaces. They are made from petroleum coke mixed with coal tar pitch as a binder. The paste is extruded and shaped, baked to carbonise the pitch, and then graphitised by heating to nearly 3000 °C, where the carbon atoms arrange themselves into graphite. Industrial electrodes reach 3.5 m long and 75 cm across.