Chemical Analyses, Surface Area, and Thermal Reactions of Natural Graphite, and Refractoriness of the Ashes

Abstract

Spectrochemical data, differential thermal analysis data, and surface area were determined for eleven natural graphites from different foreign and domestic sources, and the chemical analyses and refractoriness of their ashes were obtained. The assortment of elements, other than carbon, was essentially the same for all the graphites regardless of the source. Differential thermal analyses did not indicate any thermal reactions in the range from room temperature to 1000°C. with the exception of one graphite that had 35% ash which was partly kaolin. The surface areas ranged from 0.3 to 4.8 m.2 per gm. for ten of the graphites, but the eleventh graphite had a value of 26.5 m.2 per gm. For the ashes, the silica–alumina ratios ranged from 2 to 11, the total alkali from 0.4 to 7.8 mole %, and the total alkaline earth from 0.6 to 43.6 mole %. The percentage of the remainder of the nine major constituents also varied from one ash to another. The refractoriness of the ashes ranged from cone 5 to cone 27.