Processes and systems for making biographite utilizing a molten metal carbide reactor

A process for producing biographite from a biocarbon feedstock, the process comprising:

• (a) providing a biocarbon-containing feedstock;
• (b) providing a metal-containing species that comprises a selected metal element, wherein the metal-containing species is a metal carbide or is capable of forming a metal carbide;
• (c) feeding the biocarbon feedstock and the metal-containing species into a molten metal carbide reactor having a first reaction zone and a second reaction zone, wherein the first reaction zone is operated at a first-zone temperature selected to achieve a molten state comprising the metal carbide within the first reaction zone, and wherein the second reaction zone is operated at a second-zone temperature that is lower than the first-zone temperature;
• (d) operating the molten metal carbide reactor to dissolve carbon from the biocarbon feedstock in the molten state, thereby generating dissolved carbon, and to produce biographite from the dissolved carbon in the second reaction zone;
• (e) recovering and optionally further processing the biographite;
• and
• (f) recycling a portion of the biographite to the molten metal carbide reactor as recycled biographite, wherein the recycled biographite functions as a graphitization template to enhance formation of the biographite from the dissolved carbon.