Stora Enso and Cordenka have signed a joint development agreement to develop precursors for bio-based carbonfibre. The co-development is driven by the need for high performance carbonfibre in transportation, construction and power generation. Source: Timberbiz
Stora Enso has been developing the technology for manufacturing carbonfibre from wood-based raw materials, dissolving pulp and lignin, at a laboratory stage.
The agreement with Cordenka, a leading producer of premium-quality industrial viscose fibres, aims at upscaling the precursor development process to pilot-scale operation.
The precursor development is carried out with specialised manufacturing spinning equipment at Cordenka’s Obernburg production site in Germany. The venture is supported by BMC, owner of Cordenka, as part of their strategy to extend the reach of Cordenka into new growth markets and Asia.
“It is exciting to partner up with Cordenka to develop bio-based carbonfibre that replaces oil-based raw materials,” Markus Mannström, Executive Vice President of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division said.
“Our ambition is to provide industrial composite producers with a sustainable, yet cost-competitive, carbonfibre made from renewable and fossil-free materials. Thus, we continue to contribute to Stora Enso’s vision of a low-carbon society. We also look forward to attracting more partners downstream in the value chain, such as carbonfibre companies, to join the collaboration.”
Kurt Uihlein, Chief Marketing Officer of Cordenka said that Stora Enso and Cordenka are a natural fit.
“Stora Enso has developed important new technology and Cordenka has critical manufacturing expertise. Both companies have been manufacturing products based on renewable resources for decades and both are market leaders in their respective fields. Making carbonfibre precursors for composite reinforcement from wood-based feedstock is a major leap forward in material science,” he said.
Carbonfibre demand is increasing steadily at an annual growth rate of 10%. The target of the partnership will be on developing carbonfibre initially for industrial applications requiring low weight and high mechanical performance, such as pultruded laminates used in manufacturing wind energy rotor blades. Today, 20% of the global carbonfibre supply is used by the wind energy industry.
Nowadays, carbonfibre is made from PAN (polyacrylonitrile) which is an oil-based raw material. The raw materials for bio-based carbonfibre are cellulose and lignin, which come from trees. In the bio-based carbonfibre process, cellulose is converted to viscose and mixed with lignin to form the spinning dope. The dope is spun into precursor fibre that is thermally converted to carbon fibre.
