Simplification of temperature-programmed oxidation method to characterize petroleum cokes

• A simplified TPO method was proposed to characterize petroleum cokes. • The effectiveness of the simplified TPO method was verified by application. • Polarized-light microscopy, XRD and TPO parameters were correlated. A series of carbonaceous materials with various structural orders were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarized-light microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and traditional temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) method. A simplified TPO method was proposed, using T max (oxidation temperature corresponding to the maximum heat flow of the TPO profile) as the key parameter to indicate the structural orders of petroleum cokes. The T max parameter was compared to the T mean parameter from traditional deconvolution of TPO profiles. The effectiveness of the simplified TPO method was verified in the characterization of petroleum cokes derived from multi-stage mild co-carbonization of FCC slurry oil narrow fractions. The T max parameter was further compared to the interlayer spacing parameter from XRD analysis in an attempt to correlate TPO oxidation reactivity and XRD structural parameter. The simplification of TPO method allows convenient characterization of the structural orders of petroleum cokes, especially when there are not sufficient coke samples available.