Claude, it sure is nice to read posts about ZEN, rather than reading ones focused on bananas.
In my opinion, the purity of ZEN's graphite will lead to new applications, that did not previously exist. High crystallinity and high purity have not previously been available in a bulk graphite product. High purity but low crystallinity has been the character of the synthetic sector, whereas high crystallinity and low purity have gone with the natural graphite sector.
Synthetic graphite for nuclear applications has not met the ideal criteria with respect to variables associated with crystallinity, which has led to concerns about the ultimate practicality of proceeding with 4th Gen pebble bed reactors. Unless the graphite is up to snuff, the risk may well be too high to proceed.
It is entirely speculative to propose, but a high crystallinity, high purity graphite, may just be what the doctor ordered.
The Boeing 787 was grounded because of lithium battery problems. The problem most certainly is not in the lithium electrolyte. Solving the battery problems with a high purity (high reliability) graphite electrode might again be an application in which cost is no object.
In both instances, the precise nature of the impurities is as important as the total impurity content, if not moreso. Certain impurities are more deleterious than are others. So, we wait until these assessments are completed on the ZEN graphite. The data trends seem very optimistic to me.
Lar |
