CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/882089
An excerpt from the CW Talks interview with ELG Carbon Fibre's Frazer Barnes heads a list that includes a recap of what was new in the air at Oshkosh 2017 and the growing R&D; cluster at the Aachen Center for Integrative Lightweight Production. OCTOBER 2017 14 CompositesWorld TRENDS Q&A;: Frazer Barnes, managing director, ELG Carbon Fibre quality management system . . .. So in terms of traceability and in terms of materials testing and . . . understanding the performance of our products, we say here is the specifica- tion of our material and we guarantee we will meet that specification . . .. The other misconception that we have to work hard on overcoming — and it's really quite strange given the comment about quality — is around cost, and in some cases there is a perception the material should be almost free. Because they come from waste, why is there a cost associated with them? That's a really tough one. We want the same quality as our prime carbon fiber products, but we don't want to pay anything for it. And it takes some explaining that there is quite a process to go from the waste material at a manufacturing facility to turn it into a product that can be reused again, and there are real costs along that process chain. CW: What do you think is required to accelerate the adoption of recycled materials? FB: It's really around demonstration of performance in the first production applications. I think once people see how the material is being used and what can be delivered by the materials, then I think it gives people more confidence and more companies will make the step of looking at how these products can be used. I think the other thing which is going to help . . . is having them used in conjunction with prime carbon fiber products. I think we need to think of ourselves as one carbon fiber industry. It's not a prime carbon fiber industry and a recycled carbon fiber industry. I think we all have the same goals to see the industry grow. CW: If you were CEO of the global composites industry for a year, what would you do? FB: To me, it would be around standardization, and I think when you look at the carbon fiber industry, we've made a great strength of the diversity of materials that are available today. But when it comes to higher volumes in industrial markets like automotive and electronics, they're not looking for that level of optimization, they're looking for cost effectiveness . . . We have to have solutions that are competitive with metals . . . A big part of the cost comes from the fact that every material we treat is an individual material. We don't have standard grades and don't qualify a range of grades and a range of manufacturers . . . We should work on standardization to make the materials easier to use by people who may not be composites experts and people who may know to design things for high-volume mass- production applications. Editor's note: CW launched in June 2017 CW Talks: The Composites Podcast, featuring interviews with composites industry thinkers and doers. This Q&A; is an excerpt from Episode 7 of CW Talks in which Frazer Barnes discusses Coseley, UK-based ELG's pyrolosis-based carbon fiber recycling technology and the market for recycled materials. You can catch the full interview at www.compositesworld.com/podcast , or on iTunes or Google Play. CW: The big question has been, What is the market like for recycled material? How has the market responded to recycled materials? FB: The last few years have been pretty tough. We have the recycling technology, we've all been industrializing the technologies, and the market acceptance outside of a few niche areas has really been quite slow. But that is changing, and it's changing at two levels: Automotive and electronics . . .. However, there have been questions over what is the actual cost benefit, and is that benefit sufficient to outweigh the perceived risk of using recycled mate- rial? . . .. The second question is over supply chain security to support a production program . . .. The third aspect of it, I think, is really understanding materials performance. If you look at the work that's being done to characterize conventional carbon fiber composites, we're really only scratching the surface with regards to recycled materials. . .. The market response has been interested, but the market is looking to the carbon fiber recycling industry itself to provide answers to some of these questions. CW: When it comes to automotive, what sorts of applica- tions do you see recycled materials fitting into best? FB: Closures . . . body structures . . . and injection mold- ing of thermoplastics. It's worth looking at material forms as well. When we look at automotive, we are seeing a large trend towards preimpregnated products, either SMCs or more conventional prepregs that we are more familiar with. These are proving very attractive when it comes to high- volume manufacturing. Our first production program uses our material [a nonwoven] in a prepreg form. CW: How much education do you have to provide to potential customers? FB: The areas where we have to do a lot of education — one is around quality. The perception is that these materials are second class, but what we do is apply a very rigorous