Kuzbass State Technical University (KuzSTU) informed it had developed and successfully tested an innovative method of producing carbon fibres using environmentally friendly deep coal processing. Through the thermal dissolution of coal, the new high-quality raw material used for making composites emerges. Composite materials substitute metals in industrial production and are in use in the aviation and space industries, mechanical and power engineering, electronics.
The obtained fibre prototypes are good enough to expect a lower production cost compared to the counterpart models. Besides, they allow for good qualitative characteristics of composites - particularly relating to durability, lightness and endurance, informs the Press Office of KuzSTU.
Nowadays, carbon fibre comes from coal tar. The drawbacks of this raw product are its carcinogenic effect and resource limitation. Most of the tar goes into the production of electrodes.
"We are working on a new method of producing fibre directly from coal, bypassing thus the intermediate processing stages, coking included. The outcome will be a high-quality product that is safe for human health and the environment," says Tatiana Cherkasova, Director of the Institute of Chemical and Oil & Gas Technology at Kuzbass State Technical University.
The method's notable advantage is low amounts of carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere.
The project takes place as part of the full-cycle joint scientific and technical programme Clean Coal - Green Kuzbass. It started in late October 2020, following the decree of the Russian government. The programme's initiator is the Research and Academic Centre Kuzbass - an association of universities, scientific institutions, and manufacturers. The programme aims to develop technologies that improve coal mining and conversion efficiency yet comply with modern environmental standards.
Let us remind that enterprises of Kuzbass have been adopting KuzSTU's solution for open-cast coal mining. The technology helps significantly reduce the allocation of land plots for storing mineral waste from open-cut mines.
