MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay inaugurates a new carbon fiber production line at its U.S. Piedmont Facility, South Carolina, doubling production capacity of a key raw material to make carbon fiber reinforced composite materials and meeting increasing demand for lightweighting composite materials in the aerospace industry, said the producer on its site.
The new production line has won qualification by The Boeing Company to manufacture secondary structures such as wing movable flaps and engine nacelles, as well as interior applications.
The expansion covers the facilities and equipment to convert acrylonitrile monomers into standard modulus carbon fibers. This type of fiber is used to manufacture composite materials which have been pre-impregnated for use in applications on commercial and military planes.
“Through this strategic capacity expansion we offer our customers greater supply capabilities and contribute to their increased needs for reinforced composite materials to reduce weight and fuelconsumptionandto reduce assembly costs by integrated part design. For Solvay this production expansion results in greater flexibility to strengthen our growth ininnovative composite materials and our leading position in the industry,” said Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, CEO of Solvay.
Carbon fiber composite materials’ durability, strength and fatigue life allow them to increasingly and securely replace metals on aircraft, reducing their weight, noise and CO2 emissions. In addition, composites enable the molding of multiple sub-components into one assembly part, lowering the number of parts required as well as the assembly costs.
As MRC informed earlier, Solvay has completed the purchase of Eastman Chemical Company's share in their former US joint venture Primester. As the sole owner of the cellulose acetate flake plant, Solvay has secured the most economical long term supply for its own tow businesses while adapting capacity to demand.
Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers - fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.
MRC