Hugh E. Romine

Process for producing clean distillate pitch and/or mesophase pitch for use in the production of carbon filters

A clean pitch suitable for the manufacture of carbon artifacts is obtained by distilling from an aromatic feedstock a distillate material free from mesophase forming resins. The distillate is heated to obtain a heat soaked distillate free from mesophase but containing mesophase forming resins. The heat soaked distillate is further heated with inert gas sparging to convert it to mesophase pitch suitable for manufacturing carbon fibers. The heat soaked distillate also finds use as a binder or impregnation pitch.