Aerospace Industry In China Brings a Growing Demand For Graphite

The fast-developing local aerospace industry of China has given rise to a growing demand for independently developed high-performance graphite, a major carbon materials used in aerospace projects according to a top executive at Harbin Electric Carbon Factory.

China’s space and military industry has a higher demand for graphite products, especially for engines under extreme conditions said Cui Mengyan, deputy director of  the factory.

Harbin Electric Carbon Factory, a state owned enterprise in Heilongjiang province that began operations in 1958 , has been doing research into aerospace graphites and supplying the material for nearly all of China’s milestone aerospace projects. These include the Long March Carrier Rockets, the changa’e-1 and 2 Lunar probes, the Shenzhou Spacecraft and the Tiangong 1 and 2 Spacelabs.

The Company said its annual capacity of carbon production stands at 1000 metric tons. Its main products include high-performance graphite, electrical machine dynamo brushes and high-purity graphite.

We used to rely completely on imports for aerospace graphites-“ said Liang Shilon, deputy Chief  Engineer of  Harbin Electric Carbon Factory.

The company is seeking to combine graphene with graphite which it said could prove to be a major breakthrough technology for the industry.

Graphene could replace silicon to be the future major substance in electronic parts. Incoporating graphene into graphite will raise the performance of  the product by leaps and bounds.”said cui

Graphene is the highest and lightest material with strong electrical conductivity and heat transfer far exceeding silicon and other semi-conductor raw materials.

Harbin Electric Carbon Factory has formed a strategic partnership with Hunan University , one of the Few Universities in China with a leading position in the area.

source: china daily