REINFORCEMENT | MATERIALS IMAGE: JOHNS MANVILLE
Fibres reinforce
sustainability trend
Producers of carbon fibre and other reinforcement fibres are turning to recycled and bio- based materials to meet sustainability requirements. Jennifer Markarian reports
Sustainability continues to be a key topic for suppliers of materials and compounds. Fibre suppliers – and their suppliers – are working to reduce product carbon footprints via manufactur- ing and supply-chain efficiencies, recycling, and bio-based content in their drive to sustainability. Users of fibre reinforcement in thermoplastic compounds are eager to formulate plastics that will help meet the needs of the growing electric vehicle market as well as allow lightweighting in various applications, in the quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Johns Manville’s ThermoFlow 636 with 4 mm chopped strands is a short glass fibre that is used widely in thermoplastic compounds. The material is manufactured in both Europe and the US. “[Local manufacturing facilities] allow us to
supply key regions with locally produced, high quality materials, supporting our commitment to sustainable practices and efficient supply chain management,” says Robert Gasparik, JM’s Technical Service Engineer based at the Trnava, Slovakia, fibreglass manufacturing facility. Gasparik adds that JM has been working to lower the emissions profile of this fibre via the manufacturing process, and that these innovative efforts have also improved material performance. In addition, at the Slovakia facility, nearly all fibreglass production waste is recycled back into the glass furnaces.
www.compoundingworld.com The flow and reinforcement properties of the
fibre are due to JM’s “direct dry” in-line manufactur- ing process as well as the proprietary formulation of the sizing on the fibres that ensures compatibility with the selected polymer, the company says. JM offers chopped strands designed for three major polymers (PA, PP and PBT/PC) as well as specialty polymers, such as PPS, POM, PEEK and ABS/PC. The company says that reinforced PP has recently been selected by several manufacturers, including those in the automotive sector, who see reinforced PP as an alternative to components that may potentially be overengineered. Ineos Nitriles’ new Invireo bio-based acryloni- trile is used to make polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which is used to produce carbon fibres. The bio-based Invireo acrylonitrile is produced using the Interna- tional Sustainability & Carbon Certification’s ISCC Plus mass-balance route. It is chemically the same as conventional acrylonitrile, so it is a drop-in replacement. It allows Ineos Nitriles to offer customers products with a 90% reduction in their carbon footprint versus conventional acrylonitrile- based products, the company says. “Customers are asking for bio-based product,
reduced carbon footprint and drop-in solutions,” says an Ineos spokesperson. “At the moment we have a wide spectrum of requests from the market as the market (ie our customers) understand what
June 2024 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 23
Main image: ThermoFlow glass fibre produced by Johns Manville
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
