Business
Great Lakes Graphite Prepares to Step Up Graphite Purification in Upstate New York
Great Lakes Graphite Prepares to Step Up Graphite Purification in Upstate New York.
About this update from Great Lakes Graphite Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"\nAshland is commissioning a new furnace, optimized for purifying micronized graphite powders\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Crucibles manufactured for NovoCarbon by Ashland Advanced Materials can withstand extreme temperatures.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n TORONTO, Sept. 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great Lakes Graphite Inc., doing business as NovoCarbon Corporation, (“GLK”, “NovoCarbon” or the “Company” TSX-V:GLK, OTCQB:GLKIF, FWB:8GL)  announces today an update on graphite purification operations with strategic partner Ashland Advanced Materials (“AAM” or “Ashland”) in upstate New York. Highlights Build is complete, commissioning has started for new furnace designed by AAM for graphite powder.AAM has delivered six crucibles for volume thermal purification of graphite.Evaluation of process equipment for spheronization and coating nears completion. Commissioning of New Furnace Following several months of design, engineering and construction, NovoCarbon’s strategic partner Ashland Advanced Materials is now in the process of commissioning a new furnace that they designed specifically for use with micronized and spheronized graphite powders.  The new furnace design employs a substantially different approach that was developed with the goal of increasing throughput and driving down costs.  It is anticipated that the throughput capacity of the new furnace will substantially  address the near term volume requirements that have been provided by customer prospects. Several hundred pounds of micronized graphite were recently delivered to Ashland for use in the  commissioning of the new furnace design.  Commissioning will provide actual data on performance and costs that will provide further substantiation for NovoCarbon’s financial model. Dedicated Crucibles NovoCarbon recently purchased six crucibles that were designed and custom-built by Ashland. The crucibles are being used by Ashland’s facility for toll-processing (see news releases dated March 22, 2017 and July 18, 2017) NovoCarbon’s graphite powders. Dedicated crucibles completely mitigate any potential cross-contamination risk that could arise from shared-use crucibles. The crucibles are designed for use in Ashland’s batch furnaces and will facilitate the f...