Characterization of pitch prepared from pyrolysis fuel oil via electron beam irradiation

Pitch samples were obtained from pyrolysis fuel oil by thermal treatment for 2 h at 300 degrees C after electron beam irradiation (EBI) treatment and by thermal treatment alone for different temperature of 250 degrees C, 300 degrees C, and 350 degrees C. EBI treatment was found to be an effective treatment for preparing pitch compare to the pitch obtained without EBI treatment. These results were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (C-13 NMR) analyses, which showed the increase in the intensities of peaks corresponding to aromatic compounds. In the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) spectra, the amount of components with medium molecular weights in the pitch was found to increase with the temperature; likewise, in the case of the pitch obtained via EBI treatment, we found that the amount of components with higher molecular weight over 1000 (m/v) similarly increased. Further, the thermal stability and carbon yield at 850 degrees C of the pitch obtained by EBI were greater than those of samples subjected to thermal treatment at 250 and 300 degrees C.