Fourteen companies have agreed to join with
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to establish the Oak Ridge Carbon Fiber
Composites Consortium, which will work to accelerate the development,
demonstration and commercial application of new low-cost carbon fiber and
composites materials in many different industry sectors.
Charter members of the consortium include
Dow Chemical Company, 3M Company, Faurecia, Toho Tenax America, Plasan Carbon
Composites, Composite Applications Group, Umeco Composites Structural Materials,
Graftech International, United Technologies Research
Center, Harper International, Hills
Material and Chemistry Laboratory, SSOE Group, Innovation Valley,
and UT-Battelle, the managing contractor for ORNL.
ORNL has a 40-year history in research, development,
demonstration, and deployment of fiber-reinforced composite materials. For the
past decade ORNL has led the Department of Energy’s low-cost carbon fiber
initiative. ORNL is designing and constructing the Carbon Fiber Technology
Facility, a $35 million pilot plant capable of producing up to 25 tons of new
low-cost carbon fibers from several different precursors.
Consortium members will convene twice
annually for briefings on ORNL’s research, development, and demonstration
efforts in carbon fiber composites, and to provide critical insights into
market trends and opportunities. The market for carbon fiber composites is
expected to grow significantly over the next several years, especially in key
markets such as automotive, wind energy, oil and gas, infrastructure, and various
industrial applications.
“Engaging industrial
partners all along the value chain is a critically important aspect of ORNL’s
carbon fiber composites program,” says ORNL Director Thom Mason. “Our
ultimate goal is to help businesses develop new commercial applications of
low-cost carbon fibers and composites that will help our country address our
goal of energy independence.”
