Abstract:
One embodiment is directed to an oven for heating fibers. The oven comprises a plurality of walls forming a chamber and a supply structure disposed within the chamber between first and second ends of the chamber. The supply structure is in communication with a first heating system and is configured to direct heated gas from the first heating system into a first portion of the chamber. The supply structure is in communication with a second heating system and is configured to direct heated gas from the second heating system into a second portion of the chamber.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing a pitch-based chopped carbon fiber and a producing method for the chopped fiber and, more specifically, to an apparatus and a method for drawing an ejected pitch using melt spinning and producing carbon fibers as chopped fibers in a continuous manner.
Abstract:
An induction furnace capable of operation at temperatures of over 3100null C. has a cooling assembly (60), which is selectively mounted to an upper end of the furnace wall (76). The cooling assembly includes a dome (62), which is actively cooled by cooling water coils (68). During the cool-down portion of a furnace run, cooling initially proceeds naturally, by conduction of heat away from the hot zone through a furnace insulation layer (58). Once the temperature within the furnace hot zone (20) reaches about 1500null C., a lifting mechanism (80), mounted to the dome, raises a cap (16) of the furnace slightly, allowing hot gases from the hot zone to mix with cooler gas in the dome. This speeds up cooling of the hot zone, reducing cool-down times significantly, without the need for encumbering the furnace itself with valves or other complex cooling mechanisms which have to be replaced periodically. The life of a graphite furnace susceptor (10) at the high operating temperature is increased by surrounding the susceptor with a barrier layer (40) of flexible graphite, which inhibits evaporation of the graphite. Additionally, witness disks (154), placed within the susceptor, provide an accurate temperature profile of the hot zone.
Abstract:
Hollow carbon fibers and carbon fibers having a generally C-shaped transverse cross-sectional area are produced by extruding a carbonaceous anisotropic liquid precursor through a spinneret having a capillary with a generally C-shaped cross-sectional area, into a fiber filament, controlling the viscosity of the molten precursor, the pressure of the molten precursor and the linear take-up speed of the filament to yield a fiber filament having a cross-sectional area shaped substantially like the shape of the cross-sectional area of the capillary and further having a line-origin microstructure, rendering the filament infusible, heating the filament in an inert pre-carbonizing environment at a temperature in the range of 600.degree. C. to 1000.degree. C. for 1 to 5 minutes, and heating the filament in an inert carbonizing environment at a temperature in the range of 1550.degree. C. to 1600.degree. C. for 5 to 10 minutes, to substantially increase the tensile strength of the filament. The carbon fiber filament so produced has a line-origin microstructure in which the origin line is located and shaped substantially as a line which constitutes the line formed by uniformly collapsing the perimeter of the transverse cross-sectional area of the fiber filament upon itself. The carbon fiber filament has a tensile strength greater than 200 ksi and as high as the 700 to 800 ksi range, yet a modulus of elasticity on the order of 25-35 msi. The top to bottom outside diameter of the fiber's transverse cross-sectional area is on the order of 30 to 50 microns, and the wall thicknesses are on the order of 8 to 15 microns.
Abstract:
Disclosed herein is an improved pitch for making readily stabilizable, substantially nonmesophasic carbon fibers. The pitch has a softening point of about 250.degree. C. (480.degree. F.) or above and is produced from an unoxidized thermal petroleum pitch by selectively reducing or eliminating a portion of the low molecular weight materials in a very short period of time so that the tendency to produce mesophase pitch is eliminated or reduced and so that the chemical integrity of the components of the higher molecular weight fractions is preserved as much as possible. Also disclosed is a method of producing carbon fibers therefrom and rovings or mats from such fibers.
Abstract:
A carbon fiber having a cross-sectional structure of regular mesh form orientation as observed by a polarizing microscope is produced by a method comprising melt spinning pitch material through spinning nozzles, followed by infusible treatment and carbonization, wherein a mesh filter layer is provided at an upstream portion of each nozzle, and the pitch material is passed first through the mesh filter layer and then through the nozzle for spinning.
Abstract:
High strength, high modulus carbon fibers derived from high mesophase content pitch, having a plurality of sheets formed of planes of hexagonal carbon networks oriented, in the direction of the fiber axis and having a cross-sectional arrangement which does not carbonize to a graphitic structure are characterized by electron and X-ray diffraction pattern wherein the (10) band is not resolved into (100) and (101) lines, by an interlayer spacing greater than 3.38 angstrom and by negative magnetic resistivity when composed to graphitized fibers.
Abstract:
Flux solvents and/or pitch neomesophase anti-solvents used in the generation of carbon fiber precursors from pitch are separated from mixtures of such solvent and uncoverted carbon fiber precursors by contacting said mixtures with asymmetric hydrophobic membranes under conditions of reverse osmosis. The membranes used in this separation are asymmetric polyimide membranes and asymmetric polyvinylidene fluoride membranes. Separation conditions include a contacting pressure sufficient to overcome the osmotic pressure of the solvent. The pressure is typically about 300 to 1000 psi. Contacting temperature is about 0.degree. to 100.degree. C., preferably about 20.degree. to 80.degree. C. The membrane of choice is an asymmetric polyimide membrane.
Abstract:
A method for producing a 100% mesophase pitch composed only of Q.I. and Q.S. components is provided. This method comprises subjecting petroleum-origin pitch to heat treatment with stirring under a stream of a hydrocarbon gas of small carbon atom numbers at atmospheric or superatmospheric pressure, holding said heat-treated pitch in quiescent state to melt and coalesce only the mesophase therein and dividing and separating non-mesophase and mesophase layers. Resulting 100% mesophase enables us to produce high strength, high modulus carbon fibers.
Abstract:
A process for producing a pitch which is used as a raw material for producing carbon fibers is disclosed. The process comprises subjecting a petroleum heavy residual oil to hydrogenation treatment in the presence of catalysts, removing a low boiling point fraction of the oil by reduced pressure distillation, subjecting the resulting reduced pressure distillation residual oil to solvent extraction treatment, and carrying out thermal modification of the resulting extraction component.By utilizing the process for producing the pitch it is possible to use a wide variety of different types of oils in order to produce carbon fibers. The carbon fibers produced from the pitch produced according to the disclosed process have desirable characteristics.