Samples of petroleum pitches were obtained from heavy pyrolysis resin and decantoil (heavy gas-oil of catalytic cracking) by thermal polycondensation at atmospheric pressure, temperatures of 380–400 and 410–440°С (for resin and decantoil, respectively) and isothermal holding time of 30–480 min. Analysis of the dependence of the softening point on the mesophase content for the obtained samples showed that at the same mesophase content, decantoil pitches exhibit a lower softening point compared to pyrolysis resin pitches, for which, even at 30 % mesophase, the softening point approaches 300°C. This suggests that it is impossible to obtain pitch from pyrolysis resin with high mesophase content without preliminary preparation (for example, by hydrogenation). On the other hand, it has been shown that for pitches from decantoil, it is possible to isolate the mesophase up to 65% or more with a softening point not higher than 250°C.
