Heat treatment process for increased pitch yields

A process for deriving pitch from a preselected starting material, the process comprising the steps of:

• selecting a starting material from the group consisting of:
• (i) petroleum-based decant oil and (ii) coal tar-based heavy distillate oil;
• introducing said starting material in a flowable, liquid phase into a conduit at least partially constructed of conductive material facilitating heat transfer;
• applying heat to said heat conductive portion of said conduit containing said starting material in a controlled manner to raise the temperature of said starting material to 459-535° C. at a pressure of 46-300 psi(g);
• maintaining near-uniform flow of said starting material through at least a portion of said heat conductive portion of said conduit at a near-constant temperature for a period of time sufficient to convert a portion of said starting material to pitch while limiting mesophase formation to no more than 0.7% in a combined stream;
• reducing the temperature of said combined stream to 275-385° C.;
• and
• separating said pitch from said combined stream and obtaining a pitch yield:
• (i) of at least 25% with respect to said petroleum-based decant oil and (ii) at least 15% with respect to said coal tar-based heavy distillate oil.