Coke aggregates and carbon artifacts were produced to investigate the interactions of coke and pitch during the kneading process. In addition, the kneading ratio of the coke and binder pitch for the coke aggregates was controlled to identify the formation of voids and pores during carbonization at 900°C. Experiments and thermogravimetric analysis revealed that carbon yields were improved over the theoretical yield calculated by the weight loss of the coke and binder pitch; the improvement was due to the binding interactions between the coke particles and binder pitch by the kneading process. The true, apparent, and bulk densities fluctuated according to the kneading ratio. This study confirmed that an excessive or insufficient kneading ratio decreases the density with degradation of the packing characteristics. The porosity analysis indicated that formation of voids and pores by the binder pitch increased the porosity after carbonization. Image analysis confirmed that the kneading ratio affected the formation of the coke domains and the voids and pores, which revealed the relations among the carbon yields, density, and porosity.

Abstract
 1. Introduction
 2. Experimental
  2.1. Materials
  2.2. Procedure for manufacturing the carbon block
  2.3. Analysis of the prepared samples
 3. Results and Discussion
  3.1. Characteristics of carbon yield according to the kneading ratio
  3.2. Characteristics of density according to the kneading ratio
  3.3. Characteristics of porosity and PSD according to the kneading ratio
  3.4. Image analysis of carbon blocks
 4. Conclusions
 References

• Jong Gu Kim(Carbon Industry Frontier Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Institute of Carbon Fusion Technology, Chungnam National University)
• Ji Hong Kim(Carbon Industry Frontier Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University)
• Byong Chol Bai(Korea Institute of Convergence Textile)
• Yun Jeong Choi(Carbon Industry Frontier Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT))
• Ji Sun Im(Carbon Industry Frontier Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), University of Science and Technology (UST)) Corresponding Author
• Tae-Sung Bae(Jeonju Center, Korea Basic Science Institute)
• Young-Seak Lee(Institute of Carbon Fusion Technology, Chungnam National University) Corresponding Author