Intelligent Systems, Sustainable, New and Renewable Energy Technology & Nanotechnology (IISN-2011), Institute of Science & Technology, Klawad, Yamunagar Haryana, India, 18 – 20 February,2011
US-EU-Africa-Asia-Pacific and Caribbean Nanotechnology Initiative (USEACANI) Workshop for Sciences & Technology and Business Summit, New York, USA, 24 – 28 April, 2011
Prepregs are ready to use material to produce composite parts wherein matrix resin is impregnated into the reinforcing fibre along with the curing agent and additives; impregnated reinforcements mainly make three forms : unidirectional tape (0o orientation), woven fabrics, and roving.Prepregs are classified as thermoset prepregs and thermoplastic prepregs,but thermosets are the most prevalent,with the epoxy, phenolic, Vinyl ester,bismaleimide, and cynate ester resins while high-performance thermoplastics such as polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and polysulfone (PS) are also used to produce prepregs. Further it is classified by aerial weight as grammes per square metre (g/m2) or ounces per square yard (oz/yd2). The materials are also grouped by c u r e temper a t u r e : room temperature, 250°C and 350° C. Prepregs generally comes in a rolled and flat sheet form in a thickness range of 0.127 mm (0.005”) to 0.50 mm (0.02”) from var ious combinat ions of reinforcement fibres and matrices in a partially cured (B-stage) form. This difference is based on type of resins used. Reinforcements in prepreg can be glass, graphite, carbon, and aramid, and are used in filament or woven fabric form in either of these prepregs.
Prepregs are used in a wide range of applications such as aerospace, defense and military, railway, marine, wind energy, printed circuit boards, sporting good items, medical components and industrial products. The advantages of prepreg materials over metals and conventional materials are higher specific strength, higher specific stiffness, longer shelf life, low requirements of refrigeration for storage, excellent corrosion resistance, lower fabrication cost and faster production rate . The major disadvantage of prepregs material is initial higher cost and moderate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission. The Products made with prepreg materials cure at lower temperatures without the need for autoclave techniques and autoclave, layup, vacuum bag, and pressure bag processing techniques are used to consolidate and cure prepreg materials after placement in a tool or onto a mandrel which leads to higher fiber volume fraction. The choice of processing method is determined by the cost, quality and type of component being manufactured.Vacuum bag processing is suited to components with thin sections and large sandwich structures while autoclave processing is used for the manufacture of superior quality structural components containing high fibre volume and low void contents.
Applications
The prepregs are used in multiple applications but the majority of uses come from aerospace (63%), industrial market (25%), sporting goods & leisure (12%). The phenolic prepreg is used for aerospace, marine and mass transit interior applications while epoxy is predominantly used in printed circuit board industry where flame/ smoke/ toxicity (FST) performance required. Epoxy and polyester prepregs are suitable for radome and antenna applications due to excellent dielectric performance. Carbon, epoxy, phenolic, BMI, PEEK, PS, and cynate ester prepregs are used for the aerospace's primary structures such as empennage, vertical tail, radome, antenna, horizontal stabilizer, fuselage including aft, middle and centre, skins, stringers, stiffeners, spars for the main wings and wing boxes, wing tips, cargo and access doors. Prepregs provide good structural properties, excellent dimensional stability, low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), net shape molding, better fatigue performance than most metals, with lower weight and no need for fiberglass galvanic corrosion barrier plies. Cytec and Hexcel are the largest carbon prepreg suppliers to the aerospace industry as carbon prepreg is being used for the parts fabrication of Boeing 787 Dreamliner. In FY 2009, Hexcel is awarded a contract worth about US$4 billion through 2025 to supply primary structure prepreg for the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft. Carbon fiber prepreg is being used in sporting goods & leisure items such as motorcycle wheels, rim, integral spokes and structural components which represent a typical weight saving of 40 to 50 percent over their conventional aluminium counterparts, with no decrease in strength as well as stimulates lighter bike, reduce fatigue, and lower moment of inertia. Prepregs application in wind energy sector is started foothold due to production of longer rotor blades that demand lighter weight. For thick laminate sections in the production of spar caps of wind turbine blades, prepreg is used. The other use of prepreg is in composite tooling for the construction of lightweight tools for fabrication of smaller and midsized components due to theirs heavy aerial weight properties, excellent dimensional stability and upto 1000 cycle tool production. Norplex-Micarta manufactures ballistic prepreg for ballistic applications to achieve five levels of bullet resistance range from ¼ to 1-3/16 inches (6.35-31.2 mm). The use of prepregs is also growing for automotive applications for body parts and interior components. Market Analysis Global prepregs industry has been growing at a rate of around 12% annual average growth rate (AAGR) since 2004 while robust demand has fueled prepreggers to increase production capacity. The leading prepregs suppliers are Hexcel, Advanced Composites Group (ACG), Toray, Cytec, Gurit, and TenCate Advanced Composites, among them Hexcel, Toray, and Gurit are building new capacity to meet the increased demand. The key drivers for the growth trend are aerospace, military and defense, wind energy, ocean, automotive, and emerging industrial end use applications. In fact, 50% composite material is used in the production of the Boeing 787 primary structure by weight primarily made of prepreg that tells itself growth story. In the prepreg industry, Hexcel has largest market share just before Cytec whereas Toray is preceded by Gurit. The top 3 suppliers are having 70% market share of the total prepreg market. The wind energy market fuels prepregs growth as in FY 2009 prepreg market grew in double digits for wind energy.Gurit has largest market share in the wind energy prepreg while in the aerospace market, Hexcel retains number one podium. Toray is the number one supplier of prepreg to the sporting goods and industrial market and sells significant amounts of prepregs to various sub sectors such as golf shafts, bicycles, fishing rods, and rollers. ACG has a limited product range mainly suitable for the industrial market. Examples of such niche markets are race cars, tooling prepreg, and automotive. ACG dominates in these three markets and captures maximum market share in these markets.
Conclusions The prepregs demand will higher peak due to strong demand continuing from aerospace, defense & military and wind energy sector. The critical success factor for prepreg producers will application specific products, and customer focused solutions. Over the next decade prepregs application will secure a good position in alternative energy, high performance automobiles, construction and infrastructure end use applications.
All my valued readers as you may be aware that this blog is getting tremendous response across the globe as viewing by industrial and institutional honcho. It gives me great pleasure to announce that i am going to start a weekly newsletter on polymers, chemicals, composites and life sciences domain to catering techno-commercial and R&D news.
You can subscribe this newsletter by sending a request at vivepatel@gmail.com. I am eagerly waiting for your response.
C5 is the aliphatic hydrocarbon resins which are mainly used in hot melt adhesives having the character of tackifying with the substrates and can be roughly divided by raw material into mixed variety, aliphatic variety, dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) variety, copolymerized variety and hydrogenation-modified variety. These resins are ideal for tackifying SIS and SEBS block copolymers.
C5 tackifier based hot melt adhesives are amongst the premier emergent adhesives in the industry. The usage of hot melt adhesives continues to grow thanks to their exclusive properties that include adhesion to a broad assortment of surfaces, effortless use, aging features, and strength, among others. Hot melt adhesives are distinctively superior in terms of speed and cost efficiencies, and at par with water-based alternatives in terms of adhesion and VOCs emissions. However, escalating raw material prices represent a daunting challenge for hot melt adhesive market participants.
Hot melt adhesive refers to all adhesives which are essentially solvent less solid materials at ambient temperature and must be applied to the bonding surface at elevated temperatures to permit adequate flow. It is consisting of both non-pressure sensitive adhesives as well as pressure sensitive adhesives.
Primary functions and Selection Parameters
C5’s hot melt adhesives can be supplied in various physical forms to meet specific logistic requirements:
• Solid
• Molten
• Liquid
Primary functions
• Compatible with Adhesive Polymer-- Not a Filler
• Lowers Average Molecular Weight-- Viscosity Adjustment
• Raises the Blended Tg-- Not a Plasticizer, Improves adhesion
Desirable Attributes
• Lower Color
• Increased Stability
• Tuned Polarizability
• Increased Compositional Variation
Tackifier selection depends primarily on softening point, composition, molecular weight and molecular weight distribution. The tackifier can also be used to make other adhesive additives compatible.
Applications
• Pressure-sensitive
• Non-pressure-sensitive
Targeted & Potential Markets
Automotive - Such as carpet and sound-dampening insulation, headliner attachment and application of decorative decals.
Building & Construction - As sealants, mastics, roofing membranes, plastic composites, concrete modifiers and industrial cleaners.
Nonwovens - Hygiene industry almost exclusively for the manufacture of nonwoven products including baby diapers, adult incontinence products, and feminine care personal hygiene products.
Packaging - Applications such as case & carton closure, flexible packaging, envelopes, and corrugated converting.
Market Potential in India
India, perhaps, holds the maximum potential for growth in hot melt adhesives market globally given its 4% share of the APAC hot melt adhesives market, compared to its neighbor, China, with over 18.8 % of the APAC market. The Hot melt adhesive industry in India is growing rapidly and is projected to grow at a rate of 18.7% in the next 4 years. In the last 5 years, the growth rate in Indian hot melt adhesives market has been approximately 16.4% annually.
In Indian hot melt adhesives industry, non-pressure sensitive adhesive represents high growth rate while traction is towards nonwovens and automotive applications. Indian demand for hot melt adhesive is booming, producers may want to also concentrate on business in India. The strongest demand for adhesives in India is for water-borne products. The demand is high but supply is low. India cumulative FDI is approx US $ 100 billion but adhesives related investment is less than 1%, lower than china but with potential to compete.
The C5 petroleum resin production is mainly concentrated in countries with advanced petroleum and chemical industries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Russia, France, Britain and Holland. The total capacity of C5 petroleum resins in the world is around 1100,000 metric ton per annum and the capacity in the United States and Japan accounts respectively for around 59% and 22% of the total global market. Worldwide the C5’s hot melt adhesive market has annual growth rate 4% but in India it is growing with double digit growth rate (18.7%) in spite of the economic recession which tremendously affected adhesive markets in North America, Japan and Western Europe. Contributing to this increase was the unprecedented growth of the emerging markets in the rest of Asia and India.
Historically, the adhesive industry was dominated by a few industrialized countries. Now, a significant portion of new demand is being generated by emerging countries such as China. The next major growth country could be India. In India C5’s hot melt adhesives industry is growing somewhat faster (double digit growth rate) than GDP due to developing industry and at same time innovation in adhesive formulations and polymer and resin technologies results in new applications for hot melt adhesives. There is a huge gap between demand and supply of the hot melt adhesives which leads to tightening supply and growing demand push price escalation up the tackifier chain.
Market fragmentation continues as new adhesive demand is generated from a supply and demand standpoint. The demand growth is also supported by the emergence of new market applications that result from changing substrates and evolving assembly processes. On the supply side, despite ongoing industry consolidation and M&A activities at the level of the multinational companies, new small- and medium-sized companies are beginning to serve targeted market niches and/or specialize in a specific state-of-the-art technology.
Driving factors for the growth of Indian C5’s hot melt adhesive market
• Good GDP growth rate
• Burgeoning manufacturing sector
• Growing urban infrastructure need
• Increasing diapers market penetration
• Sectoral boom in, automotive industry, greater usage in oil and gas segments
• With the slow down of North American and European market, global players are increasingly investing in the Indian industrial market
Challenges
• High raw material costs
• High energy costs
• Quality compatibility
Competitor (Supplier base to India): They do not have manufacturing base in India
Allele Life Sciences Pvt Ltd has launched a report on “Indian Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) Compounding Market Analysis: Trend, Forecast and Opportunity Analysis: 2010-2014” that offers a comprehensive and in depth analysis of market size, applications, potential, key drivers and challenges. The report assesses the commercial potential applications of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) in soft-touch applications, footwear applications, automotive applications and others as well as uses various matrixes to identify market barriers to entry strategy as well as key market drivers & challenges and profiles market leaders.
According to report, In financial year 2009 the Indian Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) compounding market accounted for around 601.5 Kt by volume shipment consisting of footwear industry largest market share of 60% of the total TPEs consumption and thereafter consumer goods retains second position with 13% market share.
The growth drivers would be soft-touch overmoulding as well as multishot moulding in a wide range of automotive, footwear, consumer goods, and other applications. Footwear continues to be the largest market for TPEs, with the foaming & strap applications and the substitutes of PVC & rubbers while TPOs and TPVs continue to grow in automotive interiors because they are less expensive than TPU and save processing costs when used in two-shot moulding. TPVs are expected to penetrate under-the-hood automotive applications, where their improved heat and oil resistance allows them to compete with thermoset rubbers. A new growth area is the medical market, where increasing requirements for design flexibility, new regulatory restrictions of additives such as phthalates, and the potential for replacing PVC are opening up opportunities for TPEs.
The Indian Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) compounding market is expected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 23% for the period 2010-14.
It presents historical market demand and supply data plus future forecasts for 2010 to 2014. The study also considers market environment factors, evaluates company market share and profiles industry competitors.
The compelling, analytical, in-depth analysis and comprehensive report is available with Allele Life Sciences Pvt Ltd and for more info you can reach at vivekpatel@allelelifesciences.com
Wind energy uses kinetic energy of the wind to convert its into mechanical enegy to produce a clean form of energy without producing contamination or emissions. This energy can be used for specific tasks to power homes, businesses, schools, and the like, it supplies around only 0.1% of total global electricity.
Wind energy is being used for village electrification, water pumping, battery charging, small industrial uses, etc. In India, however, the use of wind as an energy source is at a preliminary stage for decentralised energy generation.India has nearly 600,000 villages and has a large potential for decentralised energy (DE) systems while India’s commercial energy consumption has been growing fast.
India depends heavily on coal and oil for meeting its energy demand which produces a toxic miasma that contributes to smog and acid rain and greenhouse gases emission. Other source of energy is natural gas which is made up mainly of chemical called methane, a simple compound that has a carbon atom surrounded by four hydrogen atoms. Methane is highly flammable and burns almost completely. There is no ash and very little air pollution. The use of electricity has grown since it can be used in variety of applications as well as it can be easily transmitted. Though major energy sources for electrical power are coal and natural gas, use of renewable energy like wind and solar is rising.
Wind energy is a clean, eco-friendly, renewable resource, non-polluting to generate electricity. Unlike conventional power plants, wind plants emit no air pollutants or greenhouse gases. Only concern is noise produced by the rotor blades, aesthetic impacts, and sometimes birds have been killed by flying into the rotors. Most of these problems have been resolved or greatly reduced through technological development. National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL) was among first which developed a 4.9 m diameter conventional multi-vane wind mill in mid 1960s thereafter Sail-type windmills under a project initiated by NAL during 1976-1977. In 1991, ‘private power policy’ commenced in wind power generation which ultimately led to successful commercial development of wind power technology and substantial additions to power generation capacity in the country.
In 1983 India initiated a national wind power programme with three components: wind resource assessment, demonstration projects and industry-utility partnership. The Indian wind Industry was placed fourth in terms of total installed capacity in the world by the year 1993 but 1996 was worst year for India wind energy market due to Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) policy, changes in government policies, which resulted declination. To overcome the problem of falling profitability of private wind farm operations in the country some states started supporting the wind power companies and investors with liberal policy initiatives. The wind energy situation started to improve in 1999 and the upswing is still continuing. Technological maturity and introduction of suitable machines for the Indian conditions resulted in overall higher capacity utilization.
Challenges
The major challenge to using wind as a source of power is that it is intermittent and it does not always blow when electricity is needed. Wind cannot be stored and not all winds can be harnessed to meet the timing of electricity demands.
Market Prospects
Wind power has an expansive future according to experts. Wind energy has been the fastest growing source of electricity generation in the world in the 1990s. However, the majority of this growth has been in Europe, where government policies and high conventional energy costs favor the use of wind energy.
The future look very promising for wind energy market and it is going to see nearly double-digit growth in next 10 years. The future wind turbine will have bigger blades (50m to 65m) and average turbine capacity will be 1.5 MW to 2 MW.
India has been an electricity deficit country despite huge expenditures in the power industry, which provides ample room to wind developers for bridge the demand and supply gap. There are some considerations like good wind conditions, rapid economic growth and growing demand for energy which leads to immense wind energy market potential.
India’s growth in wind energy is due to several incentives announced by the Indian govt. to promote this form of non-conventional energy in the country. The government has introduced a package of incentives which includes tax concessions such as 80% accelerated depreciation, tax holidays for power generation projects, soft loans, customs and excise duty reliefs, liberalised foreign investment procedures, etc. and the industry expects similar support in future too. Indian Wind Energy Association (InWEA) sometimes ago had made a formal submission to the Finance Ministry, requesting introduction of a performance-based incentive system the indirect fiscal benefits provided as tax foregone be linked to performance. It proposed the introduction of tax credit certificates (TCCs), moving away from the current system of accelerated depreciation. The new system is expected to accelerate growth of the wind energy sector in India.
Government of India established Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), an autonomous R&D institution under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), to serve as a technical focal point for wind power development in India. In fact it is an only research institute in Asia perhaps in countries in South to promote and accelerate the pace of utilization of wind energy and help hand the growing wind power sector.
Presently India is the fifth largest wind energy producer in the world with a total installed capacity of about 10,900 MW accounted 9 % of the global wind energy market, after United States, Germany, Spain and China. The 6,000 MW of wind power capacity is expected to be installed in two years.
Wind energy witnesses tremendous growth in India and is the fastest growing in the composites industry after FRP pipes & tanks market which is attributed to India’s growing energy need and initiatives by the government to meet a part of this demand through renewable energy sources. National and local legislation was framed to promote private investments in renewable energy and to be estimated that wind energy potential of the country would be at 45,000 MW. Integrated Energy Policy has projected capacity addition of 30,000 MW from wind by the year 2032.
The wind energy market had golden era in 2005 and 2006 wherein market was rocketing at 50 % annual growth rate thereafter market grown by 25 %. In 2009 average growth rate was 14 % and market is grown by 30 % compounded average growth rate (CAGR) since 2004. Most probably this was due to government policy and initiative, awareness, technology advancement, high GDP, economic growth and macroeconomics.
In global context, USA taking over number one position from Germany and China getting ahead of India for the first time, taking the lead in Asia. Approx 40 % market is captured by both USA and China and still only five markets represented 80 % of the global wind energy market. Denmark is still a leading wind energy country worldwide.
The bi-annual event of the Indian Fibreglass Reinforced Plastics Industry exhibition "ICERP 2011"will be held on March 2-4, 2011 at Mumbai-India. It would be fifth mega event of the FRP Institute since its inception 2002. International Conference and Exhibition on Reinforced Plastics in India (ICERP 2011) will provide an ideal opportunity for the Global Composites Industry to focus its attention to India.
As Asia’s second large event in the Composites Industry, ICERP 2011 is planned to be 50% larger than the 2008 version, in terms of number of Exhibitors, Delegates and Visitors, from India and abroad. Exhibitors are consisting of moulders, fabricators and manufacturers of FRP covering all type of application area and production processes, raw materials manufacturers and suppliers,ancillary raw materials manufacturers and suppliers, tools and accessories manufacturers and suppliers and machine manufacturers and suppliers.
The "Conference-Call For Papers" is open.The last date is October 15,2010 for the submission of abstract.For the registration you can opt online as well as offline mode.
Carbon fibers are a new class of high-strength performance materials for the composites industry. No doubt, carbon fibers have proven itself strong contender in the composites industry on the basis of high performance, light weight and excellent strength characteristics and high mechanical strength. The demand for carbon fibers has been steadily growing since the fiber was launched into the market about forty years ago. Even now, industries are exploring a variety of new applications made possible by the fibers.
Carbon fibers have been described as a fiber containing at least 90% carbon obtained by the controlled pyrolysis of appropriate fibers. The existence of carbon fiber came into existence in late 1879 when Edison took out a patent for the manufacture of carbon filaments suitable for use in electric lamps. However, it was only in the early 1960s when successful commercial production was started, as the requirements of the aerospace industry - especially for military aircraft – driven by the need for better and lightweight materials became of paramount importance. It was in the early 1960s when successful commercial production with carbon fiber was started as the requirements of the aerospace industry, especially for rockets and space capsules by NASA, required better and lightweight materials. The quantities were very small and price was $300 per pound. Nevertheless, as producers gained experience, the price of the material fell to the more reasonable $100-$150 a pound. And as that happened, the use of these composites slowly spread to military aircraft and then to commercial aircraft which then became an important driver of price. Over the past few years, the market has spread to sporting goods, where price was not a major issue because of perceived performance benefits. In 1980, the consumption of carbon fiber was only 4.5 million lbs. In 1995 it became more than 22 million lbs, and in 2000, more than 38 million lbs and in 2008 it was approx 60 million lbs.
Carbon fibers are generally categorized based on strength, modulus, tow size, and precursor type. In terms of modulus, they are categorized as standard modulus or intermediate modulus or high modulus fiber. There are also PAN based carbon fibers and pitch based carbon fibers. In the industry, consumption ofPAN based cabon fibers are higher compared to pitch based carbon fibers due to cost andhigh cost pitch based carbon fibers are only used in places where low cost PAN based carbon fibers are being unable to meet the required properties.
Some of the categories are listed below.
Tensile Strength - 500 to over 900 ksi
Tensile Modulus - Standard (3k-24k) 33 Msi
-Intermediate (6k-24k) 40-45 Msi
-High (6k-24k) > 45 Msi
Tow Size - Small tow (1k-24k) vs. large tow (48K-320k)
Sizing Type - Resin compatibility
Application - Aerospace vs. commercial
Based on carbon fiber properties, carbon fibers can be grouped into:
Ultra-high-modulus, type UHM (modulus >435Gpa)
High-modulus, type HM ( modulus between 350-435Gpa )
Intermediate-modulus, type IM (modulus between 200-350Gpa)
Standard-modulus, (100-200Gpa)
Low modulus and high-tensile, type HT ( modulus < 100Gpa, tensile strength > 3.0Gpa)
Super high-tensile, type SHT (tensile strength > 4.5Gpa)
Based on precursor fiber materials, carbon fibers are classified into;
PAN-based carbon fibers
Pitch-based carbon fibers
Mesophase pitch-based carbon fibers
Isotropic pitch-based carbon fibers
Rayon-based carbon fibers
Gas-phase-grown carbon fibers
Based on final heat treatment temperature, carbon fibers are classified into:
Type-I, high-heat-treatment carbon fibers (HTT), where final heat treatment temperature should be above 2000◦ C and can be associated with high-modulus type fiber.
Type-II, intermediate-heat-treatment carbon fibers (IHT), where final heat treatment temperature should be around or above 1500◦ C and can be associated with high-strength type fiber.
Type-III, low-heat-treatment carbon fibers, where final heat treatment temperatures not greater than 1000◦ C. These are basically low modulus and low strength materials.
The consumption of carbon fibers is growing day by day.Industrial and commercial aerospace applications will drive the growth of carbon fiber. Industrial applications are obviously the segment that has developed most in the past five years and these are likely to grow the most in the years to come. Such strong growth can be explained by the fact that there are a large number of highly promising projects like wind energy, pressure vessels and rollers, and industries like transportation, marine, civil engineering, offshore and more would need high performing material for competitiveness. Over recent years, the wind energy industry has become a significant user of composite materials. Significant research is being carried out for the use of carbon fiber in wind turbine applications. The two market leaders are Vestas and Gamessa, both of whom are already using carbon fibers in significant quantity for the making of large production turbine blades. The infrastructure rehabilitation industry is using carbon fiber for the construction of freeway column, parking structures, bridges, etc. This segment is also growing very fast. Filament winding and procured lamination is used for the manufacturing of the structures. The offshore oil industry uses carbon fiber for making the riser, tether, choking keel line etc.
