Recycled carbon fiber is of great value, and European, American and Japanese technologies are more advanced

author: Post: 2023年11月30日 54read Comments Off

Carbon Fiber (CF) refers to high-strength and high-modulus fiber with a carbon content of more than 90%. Carbon fiber has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, anti-friction, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance. Its density is lower than aluminum and its strength is higher than steel. It is the fiber with the highest specific strength and highest specific modulus among the high-performance fibers that have been mass-produced. It is widely used in aerospace, wind turbine blades, sports and leisure, pressure vessels, carbon/carbon composite materials, transportation construction and other fields.

Recycled Carbon Fiber (RCF) refers to the recycling of carbon fiber production waste and scrapped or carbon fiber products that fail to meet usage requirements, and carbon fiber is produced again through recycling technology. The carbon fiber process is complex and the production cost is high. With the continuous application of carbon fiber products, there are more and more carbon fiber waste and scrapped carbon fiber products, and the value of carbon fiber recycling and reuse is increasing. Industrial Research Center released “China Renewal 2022-2027” “Carbon Fiber Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report” shows that in 2021, the global recycled carbon fiber market will be nearly 700 million yuan.

1. Europe, America and Japan dominate, while China’s development lags behind

Carbon fiber recycling research began in the early 21st century, and Japan began to develop carbon fiber recycling technology as early as 2006. At present, global recycled carbon fiber companies are mainly concentrated in countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, and Japan. The main companies include British ELG, Japanese Recycled Carbon Fiber Company, American MIT-RCF Company, American Carbon Conversions, etc. Among them, the British company ELG has strong technical strength, and the cost of the recycled carbon fiber it produces is about 40% lower than that of industrial-grade virgin carbon fiber. At present, the scale of China’s carbon fiber market has exceeded 7 billion yuan. However, China’s carbon fiber market relies on imports, and recycled carbon fiber technology is relatively backward, and most of them are in the research and development stage.

2. Recycled carbon fiber is of great value

There are 30%-50% waste in the production process of carbon fiber composite materials. The global demand for carbon fiber has exceeded 100,000 tons in 2019, and the waste generated by global carbon fiber exceeds 30,000 tons every year. In addition, with the rapid increase in the global stock of carbon fiber products, a large number of carbon fiber products are scrapped or lose their use value every year. At present, the price of carbon fiber per ton exceeds 100,000 yuan, and the value of carbon fiber waste every year has exceeded 3 billion yuan. The recycling value of scrapped or lost carbon fiber is also valuable. If carbon fiber waste and scrapped parts are not effectively recycled, it will cause huge economic losses. loss.

3. Chopped recycled carbon fiber is the main type

Chopped recycled carbon fiber has low density, low thermal expansion, good electrical conductivity, excellent free flow and non-corrosive properties. It can be used in low and high temperature applications and manufacturing conductive materials. It is suitable for various industrial mixing and Composite process, which in turn is used in automotive and transportation, marine, industrial, aerospace and defense, and other sectors. The chopped recycled carbon fiber segment is growing globally due to growth in the automotive and transportation, marine, industrial, aerospace and defense, and other sectors. Dominate the carbon fiber market.