Research and development and industrialization of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in the world
At present, there are three foreign companies DSM (Netherlands), Honeywell (USA) and Toyobo (Japan) that can industrially produce ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers with an annual total output of less than 9,000 tons.
At the end of 1970s, DSM company in the Netherlands successfully spun UHMWPE fiber by gel spinning method, and started industrial production at 1990 with the trademark dyneema. This company is the founding company of this kind of fiber, and it is also the manufacturer with the highest output and the best quality in the world, with an annual output of about 5000 tons. In 1980s, Allied-Singal Company of the United States purchased the patent of DSM Company of the Netherlands, developed its own production technology and industrialized it. United Signal Company was merged by Honeywell Company in 1990, and continued to produce ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber with the trademark spectra, with an annual output of about 3,000 tons. Japan Toyo Textile Company and Dutch DSM Company jointly produce ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in Japan with the trademark dyneema. The sales area is limited to Japan and Taiwan Province Province of China, with an annual output of about 600 tons. The application structure of UHMWPE fiber is different from that of Europe, America and Japan. Europe and America are mainly used for bulletproof vests and weapons and equipment, accounting for 60% ~ 70% of the total, followed by ropes and fishing nets. 20%, labor protection accounted for 5%; Japan is mainly used in ropes, fishing nets, protective gloves, especially anti-cutting gloves, and its application in the coating process of automobile production has reached 1/4 of the total demand of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers.
Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber has developed rapidly since its commercial production. The demand for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber used in bulletproof vests and military equipment has expanded rapidly since the terrorist incident in the United States and the continuous local war in the world. Similarly, in the civil field, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber products have quickly become the main materials for offshore ropes, offshore fishing nets and offshore cages with its excellent performance, and the market demand has maintained a strong growth. Although DSM in the Netherlands, Honeywell in the United States and Mitsui in Japan have been newly built and expanded several times in recent years, the output has increased by more than 8% every year, but it still cannot meet the market demand.
1. Current situation of DSM in Netherlands. After the 200 1 American terrorist incident, the demand for bulletproof products centered on the United States surged, DSM company expanded rapidly, and its production capacity increased by more than 10%. It is reported that DSM plans to build 1 production line based on the original production line in Greenville, North Carolina, USA in 2006, which will bring the total number of optical fiber production lines to 10. The new equipment is expected to be put into production in early 2008. Moreover, the products of Greenville factory are mainly supplied to the US military and law enforcement agencies until today.
2. The situation of Honeywell Company in the United States. Honeywell has not expanded production so far. In 2006, we reached an understanding with DSM on the differences of UHMWPE fiber, and acquiesced in DSM's continuous expansion in the United States. The specific situation is unknown. It is reported that the main auxiliary material in Honeywell's production process is CFC (commonly known as freon), and the use of CFC has brought huge technical obstacles to the expansion of production.
3. The situation of Mitsui Company in Japan. In April 2003, Mitsui Company of Japan began to build a new production line of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber. Together with the original production equipment, Japan's annual design production capacity reaches 600 tons. Products focus on expanding the market of work gloves, fishing lines and ropes. Since 1985, China has begun to study ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers. Donghua University and Yancheng Institute of Ultrapolymer Materials Engineering and Technology have joined the R&D ranks and made a series of major theoretical breakthroughs. Immediately, some enterprises invested in pilot and small-scale industrial production. So far, through unremitting efforts, its fiber properties have reached the international medium level, and have their own characteristics, and some of them have entered the stage of large-scale production. At present, Zhengzhou Antai Protection Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Tongyizhong Special Fiber Technology Development Co., Ltd., Hunan Zhongtai Special Equipment Co., Ltd., Ningbo Dacheng New Materials Co., Ltd. and Shandong Aidi Polymer Materials Co., Ltd. have produced ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers in China, and all of them have made great achievements. However, due to the different process methods and equipment routes adopted by these five companies, there is a big gap between product quality and single machine output.
Among the above four enterprises, Beijing Tongyizhong Special Fiber Technology Development Co., Ltd. (BJTYZ) has built a production base with an annual output of 1000 tons of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber (DOYENTRONTEX fiber), and Shandong Aidi also built a production base with an annual output of 200 tons in 2005. At present, the manufacturing, installation and project start-up of most of their equipment benefit from the support of Yancheng Shentai Textile Equipment Co., Ltd., and all production devices are stable in operation, environmentally friendly in design, high in single machine capacity and good in self-control. From feeding to winding, the whole process of continuous production, all production accessories are recycled, and the product quality is stable.
It will be the development direction and requirement of this product in China to increase the single machine output, realize large-scale production, promote industrial upgrading with technological progress, and make the preparation technology and equipment level of UHMWPE fiber in China close to the international advanced level. At present, Yancheng Institute of Ultrapolymer Materials Engineering and Technology and Donghua University are jointly developing a new generation of technology and equipment with high output and good quality. Therefore, in the 11th Five-Year Plan, the country listed the industrial research and development of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber as the first of 28 key technologies to be broken through in the textile industry, and requested to "deepen the research on the new generation of ultra-high strength and high film polyethylene and other applied technologies established in China to realize industrial upgrading".
market conditions
The high-end market of UHMWPE fiber is rope net manufacturing, followed by bulletproof sheet (UD). The annual output of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in China is close to 3,000 tons, which is mainly used to manufacture stab-resistant clothing, bulletproof vests, bulletproof helmets, ropes, offshore fishing nets, fishing lines and labor protection. Some fibers are exported to Europe, America, Asia and other countries and regions. It has been gradually used in the domestic national defense field, and its application in the civil field is also advancing. The annual market demand is about 10000 tons. With the large-scale industrial production of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in China, as well as the decline of production cost and product price, it will rapidly promote China's research and development in national defense and civil fields, especially in civil fields (ropes, offshore fishing nets, mariculture, labor protection), the application scope will continue to expand, social benefits will be more and more extensive, and market demand will maintain vigorous growth. The development of UHMWPE fiber in China will also have extraordinary strategic significance for national defense construction and military equipment.