The feasibility of preparing mesophase pitch by addition of co-carbonization agents based on direct thermal polymerization was explored using the toluene solubles(TS)of coal/heavy oil hydrogenation co-refining residue as raw material.The study delves into the effects of two direct thermal polymerization conditions of reaction temperature and reaction time,as well as the addition of tetralin(co-carbonization agents)under optimized direct thermal polymerization conditions on the mesophase content,crystal structure and composition of products.Furthermore,the anisotropic components in mesophase pitch were enriched by thermal sedimentation,so as to obtain mesophase pitches with varying mesophase contents.The results show that in the direct thermal sedimentation products of TS,there are very few anisotropic components,and the highest mesophase content is only 9.0%(mass fraction).However,adding tetralin based on direct thermal sedimentation can effectively promote the formation of mesophase.Mesophase pitch with a mesophase mass fraction of 42.8%can be prepared from TS at the reaction temperature of 400 ℃ and reaction time of 6 h,with the addition of 10%(mass fraction)tetralin.The mesophase pitch can effectively enrich anisotropic components under the thermal sedimentation temperature of 340 ℃,and thermal sedimentation time of 5 h,thus obtaining mesophase pitches with different mesophase contents from the bottom of the thermal sedimentation product(mesophase mass fraction of 96.2%)to the top(mesophase mass fraction of 3.9%).