technology | LFTs
PlastiComp is one of a number of LFT producers developing hybrid products combining glass with fibres such as carbon
PlastiComp is based in Winona, Minnesota in the US, which is something of a hotbed of LFT technology development. Another major LFT compounder, RTP Company, is also based there while Winona State University has a composite engineering school. Bowen says there are now seven global licensees for
“LFT PP is now used widely in automotive front end
carriers, instrument panel carriers, door panel supports, consoles, pedals, under body shields and a number of other applications,” according to John Nash, Head of Strategic Research at AMI and author of the report. “The exciting feature of many of these applica- tions is that LFT PP permits automotive engineers to either replace steel and thereby reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency, or replace more expensive engineering plastics.”
A market in change The overall complexion of the LFT market offering is gradually changing. For example, longstanding key player PlastiComp has been focusing recently more on carbon fibre reinforced materials, as well as hybrid glass/carbon fibre reinforcement systems, and there are an increasing number of compounds available containing natural organic fibres or fibres produced from rocks such as basalt. Steve Bowen founded PlastiComp in 2003. It
produces LFTs and also selectively licences its technol- ogy around the world. Bowen was one of the first people to get the LFT ball rolling some 35 years ago when he was head of Celstran inventor Polymer Composites Inc (PCI), a business that was subsequently acquired by Hoechst (now Celanese) in 1988.
Right: A
pultrusion line for production of carbon fibre
reinforced LFTs at the Plasti- Comp plant at Winona in the US
Far right: LFT strands going through the post cooling process
30 COMPOUNDING WORLD | May 2016
www.compoundingworld.com
the PlastiComp technology, and a total of some 20 lines are now running using it at major polymer makers, independent compounders, and at PlastiComp itself (which has five lines). The most recent installation was started up at a customer in Europe earlier this year. Bowen does not say who the licensees are, however, and companies producing LFTs are generally not inclined to advertise whose technology they use. Bowen says PlastiComp transfers to licensees the
ability to produce LFTs through the design and con- struction of complete lines that are commissioned by its own engineers, together with personnel training. “Some companies want a supply agreement, so we produce material for them in the initial stages until they are capable of operating on their own,” he says. “Others just want to be on their own from the beginning.” PlastiComp’s major expertise is in fibre impregna- tion and treatment. The company uses pultrusion-type hot melt impregnation, which is now the most common technology used for making LFTs. “Hot melt impregna- tion gives a low viscosity matrix and promotes the best wet-out of the fibre filaments,” Bowen explains. “The challenge is to maintain fibre length and get the best part appearance, and for both you need a very thorough wet-out.” Numerous major polymer makers now possess LFT
processing technology of one type or another, many of which have been licenced or acquired, rather than invented in-house. The most obvious examples are SABIC and Celanese, respectively the world’s largest and second largest producers of LFTs. Both are in fact serial acquirers. Celanese bought PCI in 1988 and then
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