Needle
coke is derived mainly from clean (i.e. lacking hetero atoms and solids) and highly aromatic
(i.e. several condensed rings per
cluster) feedstocks with a very low concentration of insolubles. Upon
solidification a material with a distinctive streaked or flow-like macroscopic appearance is produced.
Upon grinding the
coke breaks up first into macroscopic needles and then, after further grinding, into microplatelets.
Sometimes the word '
acicular' is used as a synonym for needle-like.