Expandable Graphite : even better business opportunity than battery anodes ?

Hi guys,

With the latest great announcement made by BSM management of their future growth plans in the form of stage 3 downstream processing of graphite to produce "expandable graphite" (see "page 11" of the 15 march 2018 presentation), it is important for us shareholders to better understand this market and what it could mean for potential growth and future profitability of the company. It seems the expandable graphite market is even higher growth potential than anodes graphite that go into lithium-ion batteries, it is also even a better commercial opportunity than battery

These are some  interesting "selective quotes" with highlights on the subject from diverse sources including current producers of expandable graphite (SGL Group, Asbuy Carbon) and junior graphite companies (Graphex Mining). Enjoy reading !

SIGRAFLEX^® Expanded Natural Graphite

https://www.sglgroup.com/cms/intern...tems/expanded-graphite/index.html?__locale=en

The unique properties of natural graphite are captured in expanded graphite for use in a variety of applications. During the expansion process, the graphite retains its excellent inherent properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity and chemical resistivity.

SGL Group markets its expanded graphite products for sealing and high-temperature applications under the well-known trade name SIGRAFLEX^®. Specially developed products for energy storage are sold under the SIGRACELL^® brand, those for thermal management applications under SIGRATHERM^®.
Typical properties of the material

• Flexible and soft
• Chemically and thermally resistant
• Highly impermeable
• Thermaly conductive

Manufacturing of expanded graphite

Expanded graphite is manufactured from natural graphite flakes with well-ordered high-crystalline structure. When these flakes are mixed with an intercalation agent, a graphite salt forms that is then subjected to a high temperature shock treatment in which the intercalation agent escapes. During the expansion, the graphite flakes increase in volume by a factor of 200 to 400. The loose “worms” of expanded graphite are then compressed into foils and sheets without the use of any binder or filler.



Main applications of our expanded graphite

Chemical and Petrochemical Industry
Mechanical Engineering
High-Temperature Furnaces
Automotive Industry
Energy Storage
Thermally conductive construction materials
Construction and HVAC Applications







STRONG DEMAND FOR EXPANDABLE GRAPHITE HIGHLIGHTED BY CHINESE BUILDING MATERIAL EXPERT

http://www.graphexmining.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/0161.pdf

Graphex Mining Limited (‘Graphex’) (ASX: GPX) is pleased to provide some market commentary on expandable graphite and its use in flame retardants, particularly flame retardant building materials following a graphite industry and graphite building materials conference held in Xingshan, Hubei Province, China on 3 December 2017.

The conference was attended by representatives of Graphex’s prospective JV partner CN Docking and the keynote speaker was Mr Jiang Yang who is the Group Vice President of China National Building Materials (CN Docking’s major shareholder) and is also the President of the China Building Materials Application Technology Research Institute.

In his address, Mr Jiang (pictured below presenting at the conference) stated that “China needs 40 million tonnes of fire retardant building materials per annum, which will contain 5% expandable graphite.” In other words, 2 million tonnes of expandable graphite is required per annum.

To put this in context, we estimated total global production of flake graphite in 2016 at around 860,000 tonnes and not all of this material is able to generate expandable graphite. It is commonly understood that China’s coarse flake graphite reserves have largely diminished and supply is also under threat by environmental restrictions forcing mine closures.

Graphex Managing Director, Phil Hoskins commented, “This scale of expandable graphite demand vastly exceeds all estimates we have previously received.

To put this level of graphite demand in perspective, it is more than 10 times greater than existing natural graphite demand from the lithium ion battery industry and most commodity analysts aren’t predicting battery graphite demand to reach this level until 2025-2030.

The exciting part about the flame retardant market is it is not dependent on the rate of electric vehicle take-up, it is here now. Another key differentiator is the potential value to graphite producers – batteries require lower value fine flake graphite while flame retardants require higher value coarser flake graphite.”

Expandable graphite – flame retardant building materials

The expandable graphite demand estimates above relate to the Chinese flame retardant building material industry alone. China’s focus on flame retardants is driven in part by significant property damage and loss of life caused by large scale fires, most notably at the Tianjin Port in December 2015. China’s building regulations have since been amended to mandate the use of flame retardant building materials in future construction for inner insulation and finishing exterior walls. Expandable graphite is the preferred flame retardant and viewed by the industry as an environmentally friendly solution to the problem.

Owing to an extreme shortage of coarse flake graphite feedstock for the manufacture of expandable graphite, such regulations have been to a large extent, difficult to enforce. The requirement for flame retardant building materials is not confined to China. Examples of large scale fires that have occurred elsewhere, include London (Grenfell Tower), Dubai (Torch Tower) and Melbourne (Lacrosse Building).


Expandable graphite – other uses

Expandable graphite has a number of other end uses including graphite foil for electronic devices, graphite paper, gasket and seals. Furthermore, expandable graphite is also being developed as a flame retardant in other industries. Graphex has had Chilalo graphite successfully tested for the manufacture of other flame retardant products, including flame retardant polyurethane ensuring that car seat cushions are made flame retardant to prevent fire spreading and flame retardant epoxy resin and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, both of which have the potential to be used in a variety of applications.



Expandable Graphite (Intumescent Flake Graphite)

http://asbury.com/materials/graphite/#expandable

Also known as “intumescent flake graphite,” expandable graphite is a synthesized intercalation compound of graphite that expands or exfoliates when heated. This material is manufactured by treating flake graphite with various intercalation reagents that migrate between the graphene layers in a graphite crystal and remain as stable species.

If exposed to a rapid increase in temperature, these intercalation compounds decompose into gaseous products, which results in high inter-graphene layer pressure. This pressure develops enough force to push apart graphite basal planes in the “c” axis direction. The result is an increase in the volume of the graphite of up to 300 times, a lowering of bulk density, and approximately a 10-fold increase in surface area.

Asbury’s expandable graphite is used as a fire suppressant intuminescent additive, as a raw material to manufacture graphite gasket products, as an electrically conductive filler, as a foundry additive, and in a wide variety of other industrial applications.​