Koppers carbon materials and chemicals are vital to the production of a variety of manufactured goods including aluminum, steel, plastics, resins, treated wood, and rubber products. Our products also increase the durability and extend the life of products such as railroad ties, utility and transmission poles, and marine pilings.
How are Koppers Products Used?
It all starts with coal.
Coal is carbonized to make coke and Koppers purchases a by-product of Coke-Coal tar. Koppers distills the coal tar and manufactures carbon materials and chemicals that are essential to the aluminum, steel, paint, plastic, wood-preserving, and carbon black industries.
The products from the coal tar distillation also increase the durability of products such as railroad ties and utility poles.
The chart below illustrates how Koppers manufactures materials from coal tar as well as the industries that rely on our products to manufacture other goods and services that are needed worldwide.
How are Koppers Products Used?
It all starts with coal.
Coal is carbonized to make coke and Koppers purchases a by-product of Coke-Coal tar. Koppers distills the coal tar and manufactures carbon materials and chemicals that are essential to the aluminum, steel, paint, plastic, wood-preserving, and carbon black industries.
The products from the coal tar distillation also increase the durability of products such as railroad ties and utility poles.
The chart below illustrates how Koppers manufactures materials from coal tar as well as the industries that rely on our products to manufacture other goods and services that are needed worldwide.
Naphthalene
Overview
As one of the world's largest producers of naphthalene, Koppers provides timely order fulfillment and superior customer service. Our Follansbee, West Virginia plant is the largest naphthalene-producing facility in North America, and we also have facilities in Europe, Australia and China.
Naphthalene is primarily used for the production of phthalic anhydride and is derived from coal tar sources. Additional end-uses for it include naphthalene sulfonates used in certain concrete additives, drywall, and synthetic tanning agents.
Petroleum Pitch
Overview
Petroleum pitch is an alternative and supplement to coal tar pitch. The PAH level is up to 10 times lower then coal tar pitch without considerable lowering of the carbon content. Petroleum pitch is used for the production of refractory bricks, clay pigeons and as an impregnation pitch for graphite electrodes. It is also used as a blend into coal tar pitch and for other specialty applications.
Phthalic Anhydride
Overview
Koppers manufactures phthalic anhydride in its Stickney, Illinois facility. The central location of the facility, in addition to Koppers proven reliability, enables us to provide unsurpassed customer service to this diverse market.
Major end-use markets of phthalic anhydride include phthalate plasticizers, polyester resins, and alkyd resins for coating applications. Other uses include the manufacture of dye intermediates and pigments, polyester polyols and flame-retardants.
Refined Tar
Overview
Refined tar is a complex mixture of high boiling organic compounds manufactured during the selective distillation of crude coke oven tar. Refined tars are processed into various specifications and are supplied as raw materials to independent manufacturers for a wide variety of end use applications.
The vast majority of refined tar is combined with clays, emulsifiers and water to form a weather protective and solvent resistant seal coating for bituminous pavement such as those found at airports, parking lots and driveways.
Koppers refined tars enhance the beauty and protection of existing asphalt parking lots and residential driveways. Various grades of refined tars are supplied to independent producers of protective coal tar seal-coatings for these maintenance applications.
Specialty Pitch
Koppers special pitches and tars have been developed primarily for use as extenders in paints and protective coatings. Their low water content makes them particularly suitable for use in moisture cured polyurethane systems.
Koppers is the largest manufacturer of special pitch products in Europe and all products are approved by major paint companies, on a worldwide basis.
In addition to marine and surface coatings, special pitches also can be used in building and construction products such as roof membranes, other damp proof membranes, and motor vehicle body underseals.
Coal Tar Distillates
Koppers coal tar distillates, in the form of creosote, are a cost-efficient and integral part of North America's transportation industry. Railroad crossties that are pressure treated with creosote have a service life of 35 to 40 years, making it an economical and reliable product for the railroad industry.
Creosote's long-term endurance in the outdoor elements makes it a widely-used product in the utility pole business.
Another distillate, carbon black feedstock, is a raw material used in the production of rubber, primarily automobile tires.
How Distillates Are Made
Distillates are made up of crude coke oven tar components, which are produced during the high temperature coking of bituminous coal.
Carbon pitch boils between 100°C and 400°C during the distillation process. Refined chemical oil distills between 210°C and 315°C. Distillates that distill above 315°C are high molecular weight aromatic hydrocarbons (middle and heavy distillates). The Refined Chemical Oil is further refined by distilling to obtain naphthalene leaving a lightweight, low naphthalene material (NSR). This material is blended with the heavier distillates to produce Creosote with an American Wood Protection Association specification. The balance of the heavier distillates is used as feedstock in the production of carbon black feedstock.
Product Types
Creosote:
- Naturally derived wood preservative
- Extends the useful life of timber products
- Conserves natural resources
- 150 years of use as a wood preservative
- Knowledgeable, experienced technical assistance
- Professional logistics support
- Applicator's License required for use. Contact your state's Department of Agriculture for more information.
Carbon Black Feedstock
- An amorphous form of carbon produced by incomplete burning of hydrocarbon materials
- Major component used in the production of tires
- Also used by the pigment, paint and rubber industries.
Carbon Pitch
Overview:
Carbon pitch is an important raw material in the production process for aluminum and for the production of steel in electric arc furnaces. The global aluminum industry uses carbon pitch as a binding agent in the formation of carbon anodes. Koppers has been a leading supplier of carbon pitch to the aluminum industry for over 80 years, which enable smelters to produce this vital metal efficiently and economically.
Current Use:
Carbon Pitch is the primary product from the distillation of coal tar. It is used as a binding agent in the production of carbon anodes for aluminum smelters, and graphite electrodes for electric arc furnace steel producers.
Aluminum smelting is an electro-metallurgical process. Refined bauxite ore called alumina is combined with electricity in a reduction cell or pot with a molten electrolyte called cryolite. Direct current electricity travels from a carbon anode into the cryolite, separating carbon atoms from the alumina to produce molten aluminum and carbon dioxide. Carbon Pitch contributes to the strength, density, and electrical conductivity characteristics of the anode (and cathode) necessary for efficient conversion of powder alumina to liquid aluminum.
For carbon and graphitized electrodes, the characteristics provided by carbon pitch enable the efficient conversion of solid metals (iron briquettes and steel scrap) into molten steel in an electric arc furnace.
Source: Koppers Industries
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