Demand For Brisk Production And Expansion, And What Technological Breakthroughs Are Needed For The Growth Of Domestic "Hard Core" Fibers?

Carbon fiber, aramid fiber, high strength and high modulus polyethylene fiber, polyimide fiber, basalt fiber... They have a common name: high-performance fibers. In the "big family" of fiber, high-performance fiber is the most "hard core" fiber. Over the past decades, high-performance fibers represented by carbon fibers are indispensable strategic materials for R & D and production of weaponry in the world. The development level of the industry is also one of the symbols of national strength. It is also a common core technology for the future technological progress of low carbon and advanced manufacturing industries such as lightweight and corrosion resistance, and is one of the core competitiveness of the national manufacturing and low carbon economy.

In 2018, great progress has been made in the research technology level of high performance fibers in China, and the gap with advanced countries in developed countries has been greatly reduced.

According to the data from China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, in 2018, the total capacity of China's high-performance fibers was estimated to be about 130 thousand tons and the output was about 60 thousand tons. Among them, T300, T700 and T800 carbon fibers have all been industrialized. T1000, M40, M40J, M55J and other high strength and high modulus carbon fibers have the ability of small batch preparation. They have covered 4 series of carbon fibers, namely, high strength, high strength, medium modulus, high modulus, high strength and high modulus. Interaramid, polyphenylene sulfide fiber and continuous basalt fiber have achieved rapid development, with capacity reaching over 10000 tons, and the technology level has reached international advanced level. Aramid fiber, polyimide fiber and polytetrafluoroethylene fiber can realize 1000 tons of industrial production, fill the gap in the country and break the monopoly of foreign countries.

Development shows good momentum

Subdivide the market to increase obviously

In 2018, based on the continuous increase of industrial policy support and the continuous improvement of research technology level, the development of high performance fibers in China showed a good trend, and the growth of each subdivision market was obvious.

According to the statistics of China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, in the field of PAN based carbon fiber, in 2018, the output of domestic PAN based carbon fiber was about 8000 tons, an increase of about 1400 tons compared with 2017, and the production increased significantly, and the price of the product increased by an average of about 15%. Domestic market demand for carbon fiber has increased rapidly, with total consumption exceeding 22000 tons. The amount of building reinforcement has been basically stable, and pressure vessel and wind power consumption have increased rapidly, especially the increase of large tow carbon fiber consumption. In addition, the consumption of auto parts, large aircraft and military industry has also increased.

In the field of aramid, in 2018, the domestic aramid fiber production increased slightly, about 9000 tons. The products were mainly made of filter materials and protective materials. In the field of aramid, in 2018, domestic production of aramid fiber industry increased slightly, exceeding 2000 tons. Domestic market is in short supply, domestic demand for aramid fiber has exceeded 10000 tons, but 80% still depends on imports. Demand for fiber optic communications, bulletproof materials, automobile industry and other fields grew rapidly, of which fiber consumption accounts for about 60%, and automotive sector (rubber hose, brake pad, etc.) accounts for about 20%.

In the field of UHMWPE fiber, in 2018, the output of UHMWPE fiber was 15000~20000 tons, and the market demand was strong throughout the year and maintained a sustained growth. Among them, the amount of rope field is relatively stable, the products are mainly marine ropes, the price of fiber is low, the consumption of gloves has increased slightly, the current consumption accounts for about 50% of the total volume, and the products are mainly exported. The orders of foreign countries, especially the European Union, continue to increase and stabilize.

In the field of polyphenylene sulfide fiber, in 2018, the output of domestic polyphenylene sulfide fibers increased slightly, about 5500 tons, mainly due to environmental protection factors, and the demand for downstream filter material industry increased, but the market prices were stable, and there were no ups and downs. It is worth mentioning that the product specifications of various manufacturing enterprises are still concentrated in 1.2D~2D, and the application field is concentrated on high temperature resistant filtering materials.

In the field of continuous basalt fiber, in 2018, the production of continuous basalt fiber in China was 20000~25000 tons. The main application areas were concentrated in short cut yarn, geogrid, composite pipe, lightweight parts of automobile and so on. Most of them are used in the fields of expressways, municipal roads, and so on.

Based on the growth of demand in different segments of the market, Yu Muhuo, deputy director of the State Key Laboratory of fiber material modification, Donghua University, believes that China's manufacturing industry has a huge potential market and is expected to lead the development of high-performance fibers, especially lightweight composite materials. "All sectors of our country are beginning to try to use composite materials, and wind power, large passenger aircraft, high-speed rail, automobile, construction, ocean, chemical industry and other industries have been in the forefront of application." He said.

Leading enterprises expand their products one after another

Competitive strength steadily improved

It is based on this good market situation that in the past two years, the relevant enterprises have made great efforts to expand production and expand their capacity so as to continuously enhance their market competitiveness.

In March this year, Guang Wei complex announced that it was planning to set up a subsidiary in Baotou and Mexico. Among them, the Baotou subsidiary is planning to build a carbon fiber production project oriented to the civilian product market and with large tow carbon fiber as the main product, which will help to develop the company's civilian product business and improve the overall industrial chain layout of the carbon fiber industry. The subsidiary company of Mexico intends to build a carbon beam project to meet the timeliness and service demand of the global layout of the customer's wind power business to the carbon beam supply of the company.

Zhongfu Eagle invested 20 thousand tons of high performance carbon fiber and matching raw silk project in Xining, Qinghai. The investment amount of the project is 5 billion yuan, and the overall plan is divided into two phases. Zhongfu Condor said that this is an important measure for the strategic layout of the company. In developing new markets and extending the industrial chain, it plans to take this project as an important supporting platform for the upstream and downstream industrial structure and product linkage, so as to realize the directional development of upstream and downstream products, and help the domestic carbon fiber industry to be better and stronger.

It is understood that in May, the project's annual production of 10 thousand tons of high performance carbon fiber and matching raw silk project has been officially launched. According to the plan, it will be put into operation in the second half of 2020. In 2021, the scale of high performance carbon fiber with an annual output of 6000 tons will be formed. In 2022, the scale of high performance carbon fiber with an annual output of 4000 tons will be formed.

Taihe new material is also in the layout of Ningxia and Yantai. Among them, the 3000 ton / year aramid project in Ningxia is now on the way. It is expected to be commissioned by the end of this year or early 2020. The Yantai Industrial Park 12000 tons / year aramid, 12000 ton / year aramid project is also scheduled to start this year, and the two phase will be completed by the end of 2022.

Sinochem is also actively distributing the whole industry chain to become the world's first tier aramid supplier. Its spinning plant with an annual output of 500 tons in Yizheng, Jiangsu has been successfully put into operation, and its products are sold steadily. At present, it is actively promoting the downstream product development and application test in the field of military industry protection, electronic communications, automobile lightweight and sports equipment, and has passed the certification test of the authority in the field of bulletproof helmets, automobile hose, optical fiber cable and other products. The annual output of 5000 tons of aramid project is expected to form capacity in 2020, after Sinochem International will become the world's third suppliers. It is reported that the core technology of the project has formed a complete patent and proprietary technology system, which will break the long-term monopoly of foreign countries.

Integrate industry advantage resources

The upper and lower reaches must be tackled jointly.

With the further development of intelligent manufacturing, new requirements for materials must be put forward. In this context, what are the key technologies for high-performance fiber breakthroughs? What is the next research and development direction?

Song Dewu, chairman of Jilin chemical fiber group, looks to the future that the division of labor on the industrial chain will be more meticulous. For carbon fiber, large wire bundle carbon fiber will become more and more popular. Fine denier and differential will be the direction of future research and development, and the production of raw silk will receive more and more attention.

The composite itself has different mechanical properties, which makes it difficult to design and analyze. Xu Jifeng, deputy chief designer of the Beijing civil aviation technology research center, said that compared with traditional metal structures, the application of composite materials on aircraft has posed new technical challenges, bringing a series of key technologies to be breakthroughs, such as connection analysis, stability, Sun Shangrong limit, adaptability, large openings, lightning protection, fire prevention and combustion resistance, ice prevention, and interlayer analysis.

Ding Sansan, deputy chief engineer of Limited by Share Ltd of Sifang locomotive and rolling stock in Qingdao, believes that the future trend of rail vehicles is to pursue high speed, high efficiency, green and intelligence, all of which require lighter and stronger materials. Therefore, the comprehensive solution based on lightweight is the foundation of future technology. The balance and integration of various contradictions such as strength, stiffness, fatigue, corrosion, noise and fire prevention should be solved. At the same time, we must improve the efficiency of products to cope with the increasingly prominent bottlenecks of traditional structures and materials. Materials must be lightweight, impact reducing, heavy-duty, high weather resistant, reliable, highly usable, high life and less maintenance.

On the R & D of new energy vehicle lightweight technology, Chen Pingsheng, executive director of the international automotive lightweight green technology alliance, believes that it needs more security, energy saving and environmental protection, and is conducive to modular integration of intelligent manufacturing. Through quantitative structural design optimization of parts and components, CAE simulation analysis, high-strength lightweight materials and advanced manufacturing technology, the lightweight of mass production vehicles can be realized.

Lv Jiabin, Deputy Secretary General of China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, pointed out that we should exert efforts in the intellectualization of the processing system, develop the informationalization, intellectualization and traceability of the production process, and promote the demonstration application of intelligent factories and intelligent workshops, improve the production efficiency and product quality of high-performance fibers, reduce production costs and expand market applications. At the same time, we need to accelerate the realization of specialized customization of raw material system. Carbon fibers, high strength high modulus polyethylene, polyimide fibers and other monomers, solvents, sizing agents and other professional standardization of customization. Development of spinning agent, sizing agent and fiber characterization technology to match high performance fibers to enhance product suitability and scale production.

In recent years, through a series of industrial development plans, China has further clarified the objectives and tasks of the development of key basic materials industry, and provided direction for the continuous upgrading of the product mix, upgrading of the industrial structure, upgrading of the technology structure, and the scientific development and high quality development of the chemical fiber industry. In the next development of high performance fibers, we must integrate the advantages of new material industry, encourage the upstream and downstream enterprises and the joint research of industry, University and research, and focus on breaking through the industrialization of core technologies. Jiang Shicheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering.