Japan's manufacturing has gone down the altar China's carbon fiber national team with half a century breakthrough technology

Since the second half of this year, the reputation of Japanese manufacturing has been steadily hit. At the end of November, following the Kobe Steel Works and Mitsubishi Materials, Japan’s Toray Hybrid Cord Inc, a subsidiary of the world’s largest carbon fiber producer, also acknowledged the fraudulent behavior of Toray Hybrid Cord Inc, a subsidiary of its tire wire rod, for “Made in Japan, Japanese craftsman” Go down the altar again.

Behind the myth

When pointed out that Toray is false data, many people first reaction is as a supplier of Uniqlo, the quality of Uniqlo clothing will not be a problem. But don't forget, Toray's biggest advantage is carbon fiber. Half of the international carbon fiber market is occupied by Japan: Dongli, Dongbang and Mitsubishi Rayyang have a global market share of more than 50% of acrylonitrile -based carbon fiber. The carbon fiber produced in Japan is the world leader in both quality and quantity. Toray is the world leader in the research and production of high-performance carbon fiber. It is not only a global automotive, aircraft manufacturing company, such as Daimler, Boeing supplier, Toray's carbon fiber model or the industry's strength benchmark.

China's carbon fiber is behind Japan for 30 years?

We have been saying that China’s carbon fiber is 30 years behind Japan. Is this really the case?

Look today

On December 17, the second C919 large passenger aircraft completed its first flight at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, which means that the C919 large passenger aircraft gradually opened a new journey of full-scale test flight.

The domestic large aircraft C919 aircraft was designed and developed by China from the shape to the internal layout, which took a total of seven years. 15% of the large aircraft fuselage uses resin-based carbon fiber material, which is the first large-scale use of this material for civilian large passenger aircraft. At the same strength, its weight is 80% lighter than traditional materials, and its fatigue life is longer. The use of domestic high-tech fiber sulfonamide makes the large aircraft "slimming" again, and the overall weight loss is about 7%.

Just yesterday, Jilin Chemical Fiber announced that the Group's 8,000-ton large tow carbon fiber carbonization project was successfully commissioned in the first phase of the 2000-ton production line. This production line is the world's only large tow carbon fiber carbonization production line, and its equipment level and production capacity are leading the world. The large tow carbon fiber preparation technology is one of the key technologies for the low cost of the carbon fiber industry, and is also the main technical path for the large-scale application of carbon fiber in the industrial field. However, for a long period of time, the carbon fibers produced in China are all small tows. The large tow carbon fiber has high production efficiency, and the production cost is 30% lower than that of the small tow, and the layering efficiency is high in the preparation process of the composite material .

In January of this year, Harbin Tianshun Chemical Technology Development Co., Ltd. announced that it will once again break through the low-cost T800 carbon fiber production technology based on the successful production of low-cost T700 carbon fiber at the end of 2015, using the raw yarn produced from its own 1,000-tonne line. At present, the cost of T800 grade carbon fiber produced by Tianshun Chemical is only 350 yuan/kg. This technology not only breaks the trade blockade imposed on China by high-performance carbon fiber in some countries, but also reduces the production cost to 1/3 of the international price. .

Duan Xiaoping, vice president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council and president of the China Chemical Fiber Industry Association, said that at present, the annual production capacity of China's individual carbon fiber enterprises has exceeded 1,000 tons. Many enterprises have broken through the dry-jet wet-spinning technology, and carbon fiber products have covered high-strength. High-strength medium-mode, high-strength and high-mode series, among which T700 grade carbon fiber has strong market competitiveness, T800 grade carbon fiber performance is basically consistent with similar foreign products, M30, M35, M40 grade carbon fiber can meet the needs of domestic market applications.

In terms of business operations, the operating efficiency of key carbon fiber enterprises has improved, individual companies have achieved profitability, and the overall production and operation of the industry has improved. For example, Weihai Development has achieved profitability for many years, and Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Company achieved profit in 2016. Jiangsu Hengshen Co., Ltd. and Jilin Chemical Fiber Group Carbon Valley Co., Ltd. became the new three board listed company. Weihai Guangwei Composite Materials Co., Ltd. officially landed on the GEM of Shenzhen Stock Exchange in September this year. Carbon fiber companies are entering the capital market to get more financial support.

In terms of application, the demand for carbon fiber in the domestic market has continued to grow, and the amount of carbon fiber used in the field of building reinforcement has remained stable compared with the previous year, which is about 1,200 tons. Demand for wind power, auto parts and pipelines has grown significantly. The demand for carbon fiber prepreg also maintained a certain increase, because the amount of carbon fiber used in sports and leisure has increased slightly. Although the carbon fiber application market in traditional sports and leisure fields such as rackets, golf clubs and fishing gear has become saturated, the development speed has slowed down. but with escalating consumption structure, consumer personalized products, higher demands, so that the carbon fiber renewal rate of new products faster, for example, carbon fiber shell in mobile phones and laptops, ski products, outdoor products, bags, small unmanned The use of machines and other emerging leisure areas is gradually increasing. At present, China has become a major carbon fiber producer, but it is not a strong carbon fiber producer.

According to relevant experts, with the continuous breakthrough in China's carbon fiber industry in independent research and development, the production of carbon fiber will maintain rapid growth. It is expected to reach 5,500 tons in 2017, 7,000 tons in 2020 and more than 13,000 tons in 2022. .

With the improvement of domestic carbon fiber self-sufficiency, it is expected that the demand for carbon fiber in China will be better released. According to the average annual growth rate of China's carbon fiber demand in recent years, China's carbon fiber demand will maintain an average annual compound growth rate of more than 14% during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. By 2022, China's carbon fiber demand will exceed 48,000 tons.

These figures are easy to say, but they don't know that China's carbon fiber industry has spent nearly half a century in order to break through the technological monopoly and blockade of carbon fiber giants such as Japan and the United States.

See the starting point

In 1959, Japan invented the method of producing carbon fiber by using polyacrylonitrile as a precursor and tension drafting. The West began commercialization in the 1970s.

China's carbon fiber research began in the early 1960s, but due to the high technological blockade of China in the West and the strain on domestic resources, research work on carbon fiber has been very slow.

In the early 1990s, companies that tried to introduce technology all failed. In the following years, the state has invested more than 26 million yuan for the research and development and production of carbon fiber, to some extent, to meet the needs of some defense military workers. However, there is still a big gap between Japan and Japan in terms of product quality and technology, and the cost has remained high. In 2000, only three companies in China were barely supporting the development and production of carbon fiber.

If there is no support for the dream of “making China's carbon fiber stronger”, domestic carbon fiber companies will not be able to do so today.

National entrepreneurs fight for their dreams

Zhang Guoliang, Chairman of Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. and Dean of the Technical Research Institute of Lianyungang Eagle Textile Machinery Group Co., Ltd., is one of the many people in China who are brave enough to practice this dream. In 2005, Zhang Guoliang, who is nearly 50 years old, is still working in the field of textile machinery production. At that time, he was struggling to find new projects for the company's development. He was exposed to the superior functions and wide-ranging uses of carbon fiber.

Carbon fiber is known as "the king of new materials " and "black gold". It is a special high-performance fiber with high strength, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance and good electrical conductivity. It is extremely popular in transportation, medical care, especially in the fields of national defense, aerospace and other fields. Important position. Therefore, the preparation technology of carbon fiber is very difficult, and it has been blocked for a long time by a few countries such as Japan and the United States. Although China has been researching carbon fiber for more than 40 years, it has not achieved industrialization, and the demand for carbon fiber raw materials in related fields of application. Always subject to people.

The great sense of mission and obsession with this technology have enabled Zhang Guoliang to hand over the company that has worked hard for many years to professional managers, and he has devoted himself to the industrialization of carbon fiber technology. At that time, domestic carbon fiber research was basically limited to the experimental exploration stage. The experts in the industry thought about Zhang Guoliang’s thoughts: “The carbon fiber is too difficult. Some domestic enterprises have invested hundreds of millions of dollars, even the shadow of carbon fiber raw silk. If you don't see it, can you do it?" However, once he is obsessed with this direction, even if he is ruined, he must create the Chinese carbon fiber. Since then, Zhang Guoliang led the team into the carbon fiber research and development.

On September 29, 2005, the carbon fiber project was officially launched. The production experience of textile machinery for many years made Zhang Guoliang keenly discover that the production principle of carbon fiber has similarities with the production process of acrylic fiber, but the technical requirements are more demanding. He searched for information about carbon fiber and recorded more than 3,000 major process data. After spending a few months, he almost searched the domestic carbon fiber experts and ran a jeep almost. It is precisely because of this obsessive power that a group of people who are full of carbon fiber "Made in China" dreams, with decades of experience in carbon fiber research, followed Zhang Guoliang to form a "carbon fiber industrialization national team."

Simply put, the original fiber of carbon fiber is the “innocent” acrylic fiber, and the raw yarn is carbonized to obtain the final product. However, there are many technical breakthroughs to be truly “innocent” and to achieve a stable carbonization process. From laboratory technology to industrialization is not a simple process, no equipment, no technology, in addition to independent innovation, Zhang Guoliang and his team have no choice.

The trial production process is also very difficult. Due to the blockage of the feed pipe, the slurry is getting thinner and thinner. The problem is one by one, and once the production line is driven, it can't stop. The money spent on the test every day is equivalent to buying a brand new one. When Santana’s funds are used, when everyone is confused, it is Zhang Guoliang who gives the direction to solve the problem.

In the continuous technical research, Zhang Guoliang led the team to make one breakthrough after another. The production line scale continued to expand and the technology maturity continued to improve. In 2007, Zhang Guoliang successfully produced the first batch of carbon fiber; in 2010, 100 tons of T300 grade carbon fiber scale production, breaking The long-term monopoly of developed countries on the domestic carbon fiber market; in 2015, the team successfully captured the dry-jet wet-spun T700 carbon fiber process, becoming the only enterprise in China to overcome this process problem.

After the carbon fiber production is on the right track, Zhang Guoliang continues to increase the research and development of carbon fiber after-products, and successfully applies carbon fiber to textile products, air-rail trains and other civilian products, and to the countries of aerospace and rockets. In the field of field and defense construction applications.

On the road of research and development of carbon fiber, there are many entrepreneurs like Zhang Guoliang who are struggling.