The production process is summarized in the following basic stages:
Raw Material: Tar Pitch, Coal Tar and Petroleum Coke specifically, needle coke or acicular coke.
Calcining: To remove harmful compounds.
Crushing: According to know-how, grinding of different granulometries is done.
Screening: Separation of coarse and fine grain.
Grinding: To control the density of the electrode.
Dosing: To achieve the exact proportion of materials.
Mixing & Kneeding: The stage of homogenization of the semi-fluid mixture.
Extruding: The electrode is shaped almost to the requested diameter.
Baking: In this stage volatile compounds are removed at approximately 800 ° C; a long-term process that lasts for weeks.
Pitch Impregnation: Pressure impregnation with liquid tar pitch is carried out to fill the pores left by the evaporated products.
Rebaking: The process continues with an annealing treatment close to 800 ° C to fix the impregnated pitch.
Graphitizing: The process is carried out in special furnaces that convert the coke into graphite and acquires the mechanical and chemical conditions necessary for the work. This process is carried out at temperatures of 3000° C for periods of time according to the diameter of the produced electrode.
Machining: It is carried out in a continuous process of turning and facing in numerical control machines where the threading is also carried out for the connectors or nipples. It should be noted that this same process is followed with the connectors or nipples, but taking into account that the tensile strength must be greater.
Final Test: Control of dimensions, weight, threads.
