August 2021 Composites Blog
August 1, 2021
New Composite Tanks for Cryogenic Fuels
Lockheed, Omni Tanker and University of New South Wales partner for cryogenic composite fuel tanks
Lockheed Martin Australia, Omni Tanker and University of New South Wales are partnering to develop and commercialize Type IV and V composite tanks for the transportation and storage of cryogenic fuels. The Australian federal government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) is giving a $1.4 million towards the project. The project combines nano-engineering technology developed by UNSW with Omni Tanker’s patented OmniBIND technology.
The project aims to develop two new operational scale propellant tanks for commercial and civil satellite programs and will be suitable for the high pressures and cryogenic temperatures needed for liquid fuels like hydrogen, oxygen, hydrazine, and hydrogen peroxide. The first, a Type IV composite tank, will be a fluoropolymer-lined carbon fiber composite tank. The second will be a Type V carbon fiber composite tank without a liner.
You can read more about the partnership and the composite pressure vessel technologies they are creating here.
The project aims to develop two new operational scale propellant tanks for commercial and civil satellite programs and will be suitable for the high pressures and cryogenic temperatures needed for liquid fuels like hydrogen, oxygen, hydrazine, and hydrogen peroxide. The first, a Type IV composite tank, will be a fluoropolymer-lined carbon fiber composite tank. The second will be a Type V carbon fiber composite tank without a liner.
You can read more about the partnership and the composite pressure vessel technologies they are creating here.
August 2, 2021
Carbon Fiber Recycling Challenges and Solutions
Carbon Fiber Recycling Challenges and Solutions
One of the greatest challenges of the carbon fiber composite market is the recycling of them for reuse in a circular market. Creating recycled fibers with properties that are closer to the original fibers has been a problem in the past. Three companies have developed new recycling processes that can create recycled carbon fibers with properties closer to virgin fibers. Current pyrolysis recycling technology leads to shorter carbon fibers which have fewer uses and are generally only used in non-critical applications like park benches.
The three companies with new composite recycling techniques are ELG Carbon Fibre, Vartega Inc., and Shocker Composites LLC. ELG’s patented pyrolysis process uses heat and oxygen in a rotary tube furnace to produce recycled fibers with the properties of virgin fibers. Vartega Inc.’s process uses solvents, temperature and pressure to recycle the carbon fibers. And, finally, Shocker Composite’s process takes traditionally recycled, short fibers and uses a patent pending process to convert them to virgin-quality fibers.
You can read more about these new patented carbon fiber recycling processes here.
The three companies with new composite recycling techniques are ELG Carbon Fibre, Vartega Inc., and Shocker Composites LLC. ELG’s patented pyrolysis process uses heat and oxygen in a rotary tube furnace to produce recycled fibers with the properties of virgin fibers. Vartega Inc.’s process uses solvents, temperature and pressure to recycle the carbon fibers. And, finally, Shocker Composite’s process takes traditionally recycled, short fibers and uses a patent pending process to convert them to virgin-quality fibers.
You can read more about these new patented carbon fiber recycling processes here.
