Synthesis of nanostructured titanium carbide (TiC) from bitumen coke by mechanical alloying process

Abstract

AbstractThis study explored synthesizing titanium carbide (TiC) from bitumen coke using mechanical alloying. Initially, raw bitumen coke (5.9 wt.% sulphur) from delayed coking was desulphurized to produce low sulphur coke with a sulphur content of 0.2 wt.% for comparison purposes. Both high and low sulphur coke samples were mechanically alloyed with titanium (Ti) powder in a planetary ball mill under various conditions (milling time, milling speed, and ball‐to‐material ratios [BMR]). TiC was successfully produced from both high sulphur and low sulphur coke samples. The formation of TiC was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The effects of the experimental parameters on the production of TiC were evaluated. The experimental results showed that the high sulphur coke and Ti were converted into TiC after 10 h milling, whereas the low sulphur coke and Ti were converted into TiC much faster (after 5 h milling) at the same milling speed and BMR. Under the same milling time and BMR, the high sulphur coke and Ti were converted into TiC at 400 rpm, whereas the low sulphur coke and Ti were converted into TiC at 300 rpm. In addition, the high sulphur coke and Ti were converted into TiC when the BMR was 60:1, and the low sulphur coke and Ti were converted into TiC when the BMR was 40:1 under the same milling time and speed. Overall, preliminary results suggest that the conversion of low sulphur coke samples is easier and requires less energy to produce TiC compared to the high sulphur coke samples.