A few billion tons of waste coal sit in impoundment sites across the Commonwealth. Scientists at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research have determined a use for that material.
The process sets about to use fine coal powder to make carbon fibers and industrial-grade graphite. One primary use would be in the construction of electric vehicle batteries. Matthew Weisenberger is associate director at CAER. Weisenberger said most of the graphite currently comes to the U.S. from China and there’s interest in seeing more produced locally.
“And of course then, the other interest is being able to convert coal and waste coal into a value-added product that we need at scale,” said Weisenberger.
Weisenberger noted the process involves cleaning the waste coal, converting it to a liquid, and eventually spinning it into carbon fiber
Another end-use application involves travel well beyond Kentucky.
“In things like space structures that go under large temperature swings and need to sustain their dimensions to function. They don’t need to twist any or bend out of plane any for these kind of structures to function,” said Weisenberger.
Weisenberger noted the next phase is focusing on scaling up. Currently, he said commercialization is still down the road. He added the demand for graphite is large for various products including large windmills.
Here's more with Matthew Weisenberger regarding the carbon fiber-graphite research:
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