Editing Graphite (section)

===Electrodes===
Graphite [[electrode]]s carry the electricity that melts [[scrap iron]] and steel, and sometimes [[direct-reduced iron]] (DRI), in [[electric arc furnace]]s, which are the vast majority of [[steel furnace]]s. They are made from [[petroleum coke]] after it is mixed with [[coal tar pitch]]. They are extruded and shaped, then baked to [[carbonize]] the [[binder (material)|binder]] (pitch). This is finally graphitized by heating it to temperatures approaching {{cvt|3000|C|F}}, at which the carbon atoms arrange into graphite. They can vary in size up to {{cvt|3.5|m|0}} long and {{cvt|75|cm|0}} in diameter. An increasing proportion{{as of?|date=September 2023}} of global [[steel]] is made using electric arc furnaces, and the electric arc furnace itself is becoming more efficient, making more steel per tonne of electrode. An estimate based on [[USGS]] data indicates that graphite electrode consumption was {{cvt|197000|MT|ST|abbr=off}} in 2005.<ref name=usgs/>

Electrolytic [[aluminium smelting]] also uses graphitic carbon electrodes. On a much smaller scale, synthetic graphite electrodes are used in [[electrical discharge machining]] (EDM), commonly to make [[injection mold]]s for [[plastic]]s.<ref name="Pierson 1993 p. ">{{cite book | last=Pierson | first=Hugh O. | title=Handbook of Carbon, Graphite, Diamonds and Fullerenes: Properties, Processing and Applications | publisher=Noyes Publications | date=1993 | isbn=0-8155-1339-9 | ol=8048799M }}</ref>