Invisible contribution, visible success: lightweight as hard as steel
Invisible contribution, visible success: lightweight as hard as steel
Keywords: Fibre testing, Automotive industry
When it comes to the intermediates aniline and sodium nitrite, the Dutch company Teijin Twaron has for twelve years now relied on BASF as its source. These two chemical intermediates count among the BASF “classics”. Aniline, for example, is just as old as the company itself: 140 years. Yet these chemicals still hold surprises. For example, they are essential starting materials for a novel type of special fiber. Particularly robust yet lightweight, this fiber has started to replace conventional materials. The first chapters of the success story have been written...
Is there a fiber that is as strong as steel yet lightweight like a feather. A fiber that also offers high tenacity, is resistant to cuts, cracks and chemicals and is not affected at all by corrosion? The answer is: Yes, there is such a fiber. In fact, it has been around for nearly exactly 30 years. It was invented in the early 1970s, and the start-up of the first pilot plant making it marked the beginning of an almost incredible success story. Less than ten years later,five plants churned out 5,000metric tons of this fiber each year. Following growth rates of six to eight percent per year, the annual output of this special fiber today is in the range of 20,000metric tons, and set to grow further.
“Twaron is a revolution,” says Jan Mulderink, the former Research Director of Twaron adding “It is a very special fiber with unbelievable potential and, moreover, a substitute for energy-guzzling conventional materials.” Producing the fiber does not require high energy input either.
The cradle of this highly functional fiber, known by the brand name Twaronwis the Dutch city of Arnhem, and this Netherlands city is where it is produced. However, it has long been used successfully by more than 1,000 customers around the globe, and their ranks are growing steadily in step with the applications of the fiber. Police agents, for instance, appreciate bullet- proof vests which the special fiber makes lightweight and comfortable to wear. Fire fighters additionally set great store by the extraordinary flame protection afforded by garments made from aramid fibers. More and more sailors and parachutists swear by the extremely strong ropes made of Twaron fibers. These ropes long ago passed the litmus test for hoisting heavy weights, even in architectural applications. A fiber reinforcement makes plastic pipes and optical fiber cables nearly invulnerable. And even when combined with other materials, the tough properties of this hard-as-steel lightweight come to the fore: it protects all sorts of elastomer components against heat as well as mechanical and chemical attacks. As a result, transmission belt lifetimes are now much longer than they used to be.
The automotive industry realized no later than in the early 1980s what advantages the fiber offers, when it proved suitable as a substitute for health-damaging asbestos fibers used in brake linings. This insight led to the first major use of the new fiber, which has never since ceased to fascinate researchers in this innovation-minded industry. An innovation that may prove a revolution is the use of these fibers in tires. Tests have shown the fibers to lower the rolling resistance in truck tires by 20 percent, thus reducing fuel consumption. Moreover, they extend the useful life of the tire by 25 percent,without impairing safety in the least. “Yet the tire's grip remains the same as with conventional tires,” says Teijin developer Rabin Datta,“and there is therefore no compromise on matters of safety.”Fiber-reinforced car tires are currently undergoing extensive practical testing,so that they may be used on factory cars from approximately 2008.
This result would not have been achieved without substantial development efforts on the part of the automotive industry, tire companies and the fiber manufacturer himself. “In the research and development facilities we operate in the Netherlands and Germany, we are continually looking for new solutions, in close cooperation with our customers,” explains Jan Roos,Research and Technology Manager at Teijin Twaron B.V. “Additional innovative impetus comes from our Teijin Technology Center Europe, which serves as a trend scout and a think tank. And we maintain an ongoing exchange of ideas with researchers at our parent company Teijin.” The Teijin application engineers are currently working on a truly “hot” issue: They are testing special heat-resistant ropes for fire fighters...
The company with Dutch roots has been part of Tokyo-headquartered Teijin Ltd of Japan since 2000. Realizing how much potential the company and its product offer, the Japanese conglomerate decided to promote their growth. The result:The output of Twaron fibers has more or less doubled since then. Customer-oriented and strongly focused on industry-specific requirements, Teijin Twaron today employs more than 1,200 people around the world and has access to all major economic regions through it own marketing and sales network.
“Chemical intermediates from BASF are essential to Twaron,”confirms Teijin Twaron Supply Chain Manager Mark Claassen. The two intermediates aniline and sodium nitrite from BASF form the basis for producing the monomers from which the high- performance fibers are polymerized in several steps. In addition to excellent product quality, reliability of supply and pragmatic services, Claassen also values the fact that BASF really acts on its commitment to sustainable development. “This is why we have been working successfully with BASF since 1993. BASF has supported our growth,” remarks Claassen,adding: “As a very innovation-focused company, we appreciate the fact that BASF, too, is clearly committed to innovation.”
“We are pleased to see that Teijin Twaron makes use of the comprehensive range of services that we, `The Chemical Company' offer,”says Dr Martina Otten, who heads the special amines unit within BASF's Intermediates division, and adds: “Our cooperation with Teijin demonstrates yet again how much potential even old chemicals hold if they are used intelligently. At the age of 140 years – the same age as BASF –aniline is one of our company's classic products.” Otten is convinced that thanks to its focus on worldwide customized application engineering and research, Teijin Twaron will produce many pleasant surprises in the years ahead.“And it is a pleasure for us to continue to support and promote the development of this innovation-driven company by offering our comprehensive chemical and industry expertise.”
Pure chemical expertise: the aramid production process
At its Delfzijl plant, Teijin uses a variety of chemical starting substances,including the BASF products aniline and sodium nitrite, to make the two monomers paraphenylene diamine and terephtaloyl dichloride. A polymerization step then turns these into polyparaphenylene terephtalamide granulate. At the Emmen plant,this granulate is dissolved in concentrated sulfuric acid and spun into aramid fibers. Once washed, these fibers are then wound, treated for special applications or processed to give a mass of cut fibers, the so-called pulp.
