The Durrans Group has over 50 years experience in selecting, processing and distributing Natural Graphite based products to the Foundry and allied Industries.

Our expertise in Natural Graphite products has been developed and enhanced by years of manufacturing and blending expertise.

Natural Graphite and associated products have been processed and blended by the James Durrans Group at our Penistone, South Yorkshire plant for over 50 years. This purpose built facility is home to a wide range of specialist drying, grinding, blending and grading equipment, and combined with our manufacturing expertise, provides customers with quality products matching their exacting specifications.

Our extensive knowledge working with Natural Graphite based products enables our technicians to find innovative solutions to the most challenging requirements of Refractory Industry supplying Steel Plants and Allied Industries. Produced from our carefully selected and controlled raw materials these products can then be shipped safely to destinations in the UK and across the world.

The Durrans Group has the knowledge, facilities and capability to provide customers with solutions to their Natural Graphite and blended Graphite/Carbon products needs.

Natural Flake Graphites

The Durrans Group has over 50 years experience in selecting, processing and distributing Natural Flake Graphite to the Foundry, Refractory and Chemical industries. Flake Graphites have excellent lubrication properties and are both electrically and thermally conductive.

Flake Graphite is available in a variety of grades

• Low Ash and high Carbon (80 to 98%)
• Classed as fine, medium and coarse grades
• Can also be supplied to specific customer specification
• All pack sizes available up to polybags.

Natural Flake Graphite production required specialised blending and grading equipment and carefully controlled manufacturing and monitoring are in built into our systems, ensuring compliance to our procedures.

Amorphous Graphites

The Durrans Group has over 50 years experience in selecting, processing and distributing Amorphous Graphite to the Foundry, Refractory and Chemical and industries. Amorphous is the least “graphitic” of the natural graphites. The term “amorphous” is a misnomer since this material is in fact truly crystalline.

Amorphous Graphites are typically lower in purity than flake graphites and their method of extraction is like that of coal and commercial grades centre around 80 to 85% Carbon.

Amorphous Graphite tends to be much less reflective in both coarse and fine grained sizes and has a darker colour, bordering on black whilst higher purity flake has a colour closer to silver grey.

It has a typically lower value than flake but still has valuable lubrication properties, is conductive and is a very stable product used in coatings, refractory blends and chemical processes.

Amorphous Graphite is available in the following grades:

• Fine powders with 80% passing 200# (75 microns)
• Fine powders with 80% passing 300# (63 microns)
• Varying carbon contents 80 to 90% Carbon
• All pack sizes available up to polybags.

Amorphous Graphite production, blending and grading needs a carefully controlled manufacturing and monitoring ensuring compliance to our procedures.

Powdered Graphites

The Durrans Group has over 50 years experience in selecting, processing and distributing Powdered Graphites to the Foundry and allied industries. Powdered Natural Graphites have many uses including Coatings, Recarburisers, Foundry Refractories and plastics.

Powdered Graphite is available in many grades :

• Typically 80% passing 200# (75 Microns)
• Classed as fine powder materials
• Carbon contents from 80 to 98%
• All pack sizes available, including bulk road tanker. 

Powdered Graphite production is a safety critical process and carefully controlled manufacturing and monitoring are in built into our systems ensuring compliance to our procedures. 

Expendable Graphites

The Durrans Group has over 10 years experience in selecting, processing and distributing Expandable Graphites to the Foundry and allied industries. This product is also known as “Intumescent Graphite” and is a synthesized intercalation compound of graphite that expands or exfoliates when heated.

This material is manufactured by treating flake graphite with various types of intercalation reagents. These reagents migrate between the graphite layers and then heated can result in a volume change of up to 300 times the original, a lowering of bulk density and a 10 fold increase in surface area.

Expandable Graphite is used as a fire suppressant and in graphite gasket products and in coatings.

Expandable Graphite is available in the following grades : 

• Purity from 80 to 99% Carbon
• Classed as coarse or fine grades
• Expandability range from 80 to 300 times volume increase.
• Products can be supplied as low pH (Acidic), Neutral and Alkaline
• All pack sizes available up to polybags. Expandable Graphite 

Production needs carefully controlled manufacturing and monitoring which are in built into our systems ensuring compliance to our procedures.

Processing

Grading Classifications

The Durrans Group has over 70 years experience in selecting, processing and distributing Flake and Powdered Products to the Foundry and allied industries. This means that we can operate in all grading standards and down to very fine grades of less than 5 Microns.

Products have either a + (plus) or a - (minus) indicating their grading.

The last two digits are the Carbon content

Therefore a - 285 would be 80% below 200 Mesh (75 Microns) and have a 85% Carbon content

Therefore a +192 would be 80% above 100 Mesh (150 Microns) and have a 92% Carbon content

Please refer to the download section for a comprehensive sieve chart.

Customised grades are our speciality and with our blending and sieving operations we can meet most requirements.  

Commission Blending

The Durrans Group has over 70 years experience in Commission Grinding and Blending and have invested heavily in custom built processing equipment.

Customers who want a custom made product can specify carbon content, ash levels and grading and packing and we can blend from a variety of products ensuring a uniform and consistent product.

Typical examples are in the growing fields of Expandable Graphites, the use of Natural Graphites in Friction materials and the Refractory Industry were specific surface area materials are critical in high temperature applications such as Isostatic Graphite tube manufacture.

Custom grades are available as follows :

• Ultra fine gradings down to a few microns
• From coarse to fine grades
• Up to 98% Carbon
• All packaging types sizes available.

Commission Blending production is specialised work and is carefully controlled and monitored into our systems ensuring compliance to our procedures.