Custom Carbon & Graphite Machining

26 Jun

Graphite in Nuclear Energy: What You Need to Know

When most people think of nuclear power, they picture uranium fuel rods and massive cooling towers. But there's another material quietly performing important work inside many nuclear reactors: graphite. This form of carbon plays several roles in nuclear energy production such as controlling nuclear reactions and providing structural support in the world's most advanced nuclear power stations, like the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station just west of Lorain, OH on Lake Erie. And with President Trump’s recent executive orders on nuclear power, it is likely that this industry will grow in significance as the US looks to increase its energy output...

12 Jun

Guide to Selecting a Custom Graphite Manufacturer: What to Look For

Selecting a Custom Graphite Manufacturer Synthetic graphite offers high purity and consistent quality, making it ideal for applications like lithium-ion batteries, electric arc furnaces, and nuclear reactors. It has excellent thermal conductivity, chemical stability, and can withstand high temperatures without degrading, outperforming natural graphite in many industrial uses. If your company requires custom graphite components, choosing the right custom graphite manufacturer can make the difference between a successful project and costly delays or performance issues. While we at Semco may be a little biased about this topic, we have over 50 years of graphite machining experience to back up our...

16 May

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Turns Coal into Graphite

About 500 miles south of Semco Carbon’s manufacturing facility in Lorain, OH, in the hills of eastern Tennessee, sits Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a facility with a storied past in America's nuclear program. Today, this national laboratory continues its tradition of breakthrough research, but with applications far beyond nuclear power. One particularly promising development at ORNL involves transforming a declining but valuable material—coal—into high-quality graphite essential for renewable energy and clean energy technologies. Coal's Second Act: Clean Energy Technologies For generations, coal powered America's industrial might. As the nation shifts toward cleaner energy sources, coal mining communities face uncertain...

07 May

Synthetic Graphite in Electric Vehicles

Synthetic Graphite in Electric VehiclesThink back ten years. Do you remember seeing electric vehicles on the road? Hybrids, perhaps, and yes, those featured advanced battery technology. But lithium-ion batteries were not powering many cars. Now, think of your commute today. Chances are, you saw several electric vehicles, possibly even e bikes, on your way to work. Electric vehicles have become so common, you probably don’t even notice them. The electric vehicles revolution continues to accelerate in the market today, with automakers worldwide transitioning their fleets from internal combustion engines, with their carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse...

24 Jun

The Installation of Our New 2000 lb Gorbel Overhead Crane

Semco is excited to share another significant update from our graphite machining facility in Lorain, OH: we recently installed a new 2000 lb Gorbel Overhead Crane. This state-of-the-art crane is a game changer for our operations, particularly in our lathe department. Our Haas lathes are state-of-the-art, but the ways we were moving graphite blocks and tools around the department was not. That changed with the installation of the Gorbel Overhead Crane, which spans across the shop floor, creating a safer work environment for our team and enhancing efficiency in loading and unloading parts and tools. The Overhead Crane’s Safety Impact...