JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #79 - March 2013 - 70

Multisector

JEC Europe 2013
Leading-edge oxidation technology for carbon fibre

> Booth T51

Harper’s oxidation oven design brings well needed advancements to oxidation technology, incorporating multiple improvements beyond what is available on the market today to serve the need
for growing capacities and increase efficiency. For the customer, this technology equals faster oxidation, improved velocity uniformity and range, assurance of temperature uniformity at a variety
of flow rates, and optimal control of the reaction ultimately enhancing fibre quality.
As demonstrated in industry presentations, Harper’s oxidation oven systems are capable of reducing the energy consumption of the oxidation process by a factor of 2x-3x as compared to traditional
oven design. This design utilizes a combination of mechanical design features and control systems to
provide precision management of the energetic state within the oven. This innovation is an essential
evolution towards the type of technology that will be necessary to meet the requirements for use of
many emerging precursor materials. Harper’s systems are designed to help customers advance their carbon fibre production operations.
They are maximized for reuse of energy available from waste gas abatement, offer instrumentation and control advances allowing for a
high degree of process optimization, and incorporate end-seals that maximize the effective heated volume and drastically reduce room air
www.harperintl.com
ingress and the chimney effect.

Scott Bader’s new vinyl ester (VE) spray
tooling gelcoat is being launched at JEC
Europe 2013. Crystic Gelcoat 15PA is
a VE spray tooling gelcoat with a unique
base resin technology recently developed
by Scott Bader. For GRP tooling, it offers
superior gloss retention and resistance to
print-through. This VE spray geIcoat is the
latest addition to the Crystic Matched Tooling System, which offers mould-makers a
brush tooling gelcoat if preferred, along with
a VE skincoat and choice of standard or rapid
back-up tooling resins. The gelcoat sprays
easily with good coverage and offers superior
gloss retention after multiple mould pulls. It is
non-gassing, has a very low porosity surface,
excellent fibre print-through resistance with
Crystic Matched Tooling System and uses a
standard MEKP catalyst.
Its key benefits include a high-gloss polished
mould finish, enhanced gloss retention, fast
mould production, rapid cure even at low
temperature and reduced labour time.
Crystic Gelcoat 15PA has been successfully
trialled by key customers and is now specified. According to one customer, it sprays
very easily and covers nicely with no sagging.
The degassing is perfect and no pinholes were
found even after sanding the gelcoat surface.
But where it really outperforms the competition is in achieving excellent resistance to
print-through when vacuum bagging a 2x2
twill carbon fabric of 200 g/m² with epoxy
resin.
www.scottbader.com

Multi-sector

New vinylester
> Booth V18
spray tooling gelcoat

Cygnet Tex-Web unveils latest
PAN precursor creel

> Booth F9

British-based creel specialist Cygnet Tex-Web
will unveil its next-generation PAN precursor
creel at JEC Europe. Built to deliver exceptional tension control, accuracy, and consistency
of unwind into fibre carbonisation lines, the VHD
machine uses a unique top box tension compensator fitted with incremental controls to handle large
PAN precursor packages of 350kg and over. The
third-generation creel, which has already been installed at two carbon fibre production
companies in Korea and China, was designed for fast and reliable installation. Cygnet
Tex-Web uses a series of customised procedures to build, test and calibrate the machine
in-house to ensure the unit’s base tension is set before it is delivered to a customer’s site.
Once there, the machine can be quickly installed and commissioned with minimal adjustments. This is possible because of the modular, fully self-contained design of the top
box that relies on machined components for tighter, more reliable and stable controls.
The machine also features its own purpose-built lifter-loader system to ensure creel
change-overs are clean and efficient. Cygnet Tex-Web’s creel business has been developing specialised creels for the international fibre and fabric processing industries for
almost 40 years. In the last ten years, the company has installed over 40 of its first and
second generation PAN precursor creels.
www.cygnet-tw.com
Multi-sector

Multi-sector

Production

Innovative Airtech vacuum test unit

> Booth M64

The Airtech vacuum test unit is used to test the
vacuum integrity of all Airtech vacuum hoses
and valves as well as the quick disconnect
couplings attached to these hoses and valves.
Simply connect the Airtech vacuum test unit to a
vacuum source and use the isolation valve and the
vacuum gauges to perform a vacuum drop test on
the attached components to be tested. The unit is a
compact, lightweight and easy-to-use device which
can be used to test in-service equipment or to check equipment which has undergone
maintenance such as seal replacements on vacuum valves or end fitting replacements on
vacuum hoses.
www.airtech.lu

70 jec composites magazine / No79 March 2013

http://www.harperintl.com http://www.cygnet-tw.com http://www.scottbader.com http://www.airtech.lu

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #79 - March 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #79 - March 2013