Semi conductors Energy storage Solarenergy …...• Gas diffusion layer in fuel cells improving efficiency • Specialty graphites in lead-acid batteries 4 European Association of

The case of

Graphite -

Smart solution for the future

Dr. Corina Hebestreit

Brno Nov. 2019

Euromines Mobility

• Automobile

• Public transportation

• Aerospace

Energy

• Energy storage

• Solarenergy

• Windenergy

Digitalisation

• Semi conductors

• LED

European Association of Mining Industries, Metal Ores & Industrial Minerals www.euromines.org• DC0 Öffentlich - (breithackyv)

Solar Energy

Manufacturing equipment for multi- and monocrystalline silicon

2

http://www.euromines.org/


3

Wind energy

• Specialty products for rotor blades increasing efficiency, longevity and

rotor dynamics

• Carbon fibres, semi-products and carbon brushes



Energy storage

• Synthetic and natural graphite as anode material

for lithium-Ion batteries,

• Battery felt in stationary energy storage

• Gas diffusion layer in fuel cells improving

efficiency

• Specialty graphites in lead-acid batteries

4



Semi-conductors

• Speciality graphite for the manufacturing tools

• for semi-conductors

• Silicon carbide coated wafer carriers

• for computer chips5


European Association of Mining Industries, Metal Ores & Industrial Minerals www.euromines.org

Public transportation

▪ Production of steel and aluminium

▪ Light-weighted construction parts to save electricity

▪ Speciality graphite for charging stations and moving parts



Automobile

• Steel (produced with graphite electrodes)

• Ferroalloys (procuced with carbon and graphite electrodes)

• Aluminium produced with carbon and graphitised anodes)

• Light weight structures on the basis of composite materials

• Carbon ceramic brakes

• Specialty graphites for cooling water pumps and vaccum

pumps

• Lithium-Ion-batterien in EVsSGL Carbon | Unternehmenspräsentation I 20189



World: Consumption of graphite by application, 2017 and 2027

10



Graphite market

11

Graphite

2.5 M ton/y

Powders

> 100 kton/y

Natural Graphite

1 M ton/y

Synthetic Graphite

1.5 M ton/y

Bodies

(Electrodes)

< 1.4 M ton/y

Flake

400 kton/y

Amorphous

600 kton/y



Graphite production routes

12

From MineFrom by-products of the

petroleum industry



Synthetic Graphite production is energy

intensive

13

Tem

per

atu

re [

1 00

0°C

]

0 50 100 150 200

Crystallite size [nm]

3

Graphite

Coke

2

1

Graphitization process: primary synthetic graphite

Resource: Coal tar pitch and needle coke

= by products of the petroleum industry!

Electrical

energy



The strategic value chain:

Lithium-ion battery materials

14

50% of the

weight of a

battery is

graphite



Demand for Graphite is expected to

experience an unprecedented growth….

15

Source: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence

2020: 17 Gigafactories – 234 GWh



Forecast consumption of graphite by type

and battery application compared with the

market for lithium-ion batteries, 2017-2027

17



Results from the significance

screening by the JRC

Annual EU metals demand as % of expected supply for 2020-2030 (all technologies)



Increasing number of critical substances

Critical Minerals U.S. list (2019) E.U. list (2017) Japan listAntimony x x x

Arsenic x

Barytes x x

Bauxite x

Beryllium x x

Bismuth x x

Borate x

Cesium x

Chromium x x

Cobalt x x x

Coking coal x

Fluorspar x x

Gallium x x x

Germanium x x x

Graphite x x xHafnium x x

Helium x x

Indium x x x

Lithium x x



20

China

100%

Natural Spherical Graphite

China, Japan, Korea

90 – 100k

tpa (c. 30%

yield)

1.5m tpa

All Graphite

China

73%

Japan

15%

Other

12%

China

Synthetic Graphite

Battery Grade

China today dominates the anode grade

graphite market supply




At what costs? Mines and processing operations in

China suspended by the central government due

to environmental restrictions, implying a potential

Chinese supply disruption

21




China GE production capacity grows much faster than domestic demand

22

China’s output is

expected to reach

1,257 mill t in 2019.



New EU sustainable graphite mining

projects needed

◼ Battery final customers need to test new materials

◼ Qualification can take many months/years depending on the final customers

◼ Real testing possible only in production – samples not sufficient

FINANCING REACHING SPEC QUALIFICATION

2.5 years + 1 year + 18-24 months+

> 5 years


Limited graphite projects in the pipeline with timing and volume output

unclear



Circular Economy:

The life cycle of graphite

≡ today’s recycling from a wide range of uses- Batteries

- Brake pads

- Carbon brushes

- Etc.

Today recycling back

into battery material is

not possible!

Research into repairing

crystallography

will be needed.

batteries

brake pads, brushes

electrodes

and anodes



Contribution to Circular economy

and carbon neutrality

Graphite electrodes used in EAFs contribute to 84

million mt reduction in CO2 emissions per year in

the EU, equivalent to emissions from 28 million

passenger cars.

EU EAF steel production 67,500,000 MT

Quantity of EAF CO2 generated per year * 33,750,000 MT

Quantity of CO2 generated per year should

the same steel amount be produced at BOF 118,125,000 MT

CO2 emissions savings by using EAF vs BOF 84,375,000 MT




Documents

Semi conductors Energy storage Solarenergy …...• Gas diffusion layer in fuel cells improving efficiency • Specialty graphites in lead-acid batteries 4 European Association of