X-Ray Amorphous Pattern Characterization of PETRONAS Petroleum Coke Product as a Potential for Advanced Carbon-Carbon Composite Material Precursors

The interpretation of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) of a crystalline material is facilitated with the abundance of database, and superior software due to the superior quality of the diffraction pattern. However, the analysis of XRD of an amorphous material is difficult as the diffraction pattern is broad and diffused unlike the sharp and well defined x-ray pattern of a crystalline material. An amorphous petroleum coke (pet coke) is obtained from Melaka Refinery Company (MRC). The pet coke is analyzed and characterized in terms of its calorific value, physical properties, morphology, compositional analysis, as well as an XRD pattern. Knowledge of internal structure of Pet coke is useful as it can find application in many engineering and high value applications such as catalyst carrier, adsorbent, and toxic material removal. The activities in Final Year Project 1 (FYP 1) involved a comprehensive literature review of the XRD pattern of an amorphous material. The availability of analytical equipments and apparatus required for the characterization of pet coke has been identified and reserved during FYP 1. In FYP 2, we report the characterization of pet coke from MRC including morphology, calorific value and elemental analysis. A XRD pattern has been obtained and the analysis of the derived pattern is presented in this Final Repor