Carbon Fibre

PROCESS AND TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS
FOR CARBON FIBER PRODUCTION

The world’s finest oxidation oven

For more than 40 years, Despatch has been the industry’s leading provider of carbon fiber oxidation ovens. Since oxidation is an exothermic process, uniform, consistent airflow to uniformly remove heat from all tows across the web is a critical success factor. The Despatch Center-to-Ends Carbon Fiber Oxidation Oven produces a uniform airflow over the tows allowing the process to be operated closer to the “exotherm”, increasing the chemical reaction rate. Airflow turbulence is minimized to prevent cosmetic damage to fiber tows. Consistency of process results in no skinning (uncured core) and more uniform densification across the entire tow band. Center-to-ends airflow provides for up to 30% faster rates of oxidation than conventional cross flow or vertical down flow oven designs.

Despatch oxidation oven size can be scaled from 400MM band width up to 4200MM band width and can process 1k to 320k tows with no loss of uniformity. Zones can be installed to fit a desired footprint with vertical stacking up to three zones high. With this customization we can meet any customer’s target production rates. Patent-pending, automated adjustable end louvers and other efficient design features provide significant cost savings per kilogram of material output.

The Despatch integrated control system allows for accurate, centralized control of temperature and transport drive speeds, higher levels of automation, and increased flexibility for full production lines. The central control system also includes full data logging and trending and enables the line to run at peak performance with maximum production output.

 

 

Integrated carbon fiber production lines

Integrated carbon fiber production lines

Through our experience and expertise in the carbon fiber industry, we have established relationships that allow us to facilitate the installation, commissioning and optimization of a complete carbon fiber line through one point of contact. Despatch keeps your costs down with efficient use of energy such as using reclaimed heat, easy access to all parts of the line for maintenance, and top quality components for maximum uptime.

Despatch offers LT and HT furnaces designed for ease of operation with quick access to the muffle interior for easy cleaning. A PLC provides precise temperature control, critical systems monitoring and automated heat up and cool down programs.

The energy efficient design uses reclaimed heat for the inert atmosphere gas. The internal atmosphere is uniformly sealed and remains in balance while the exhaust removes effluent freight.

The Despatch surface treatment process provides uniform electro chemical etching across the fiber web. A minimum amount of fresh water and base electrolyte is used due to effective recirculation systems, and electrolyte solution is efficiently removed from the fiber.

A PLC controls the recipes and fluid levels for sizing with a SCADA interface. Size fluid is continually circulated and filtered while in use. The system provides uniform and constant distribution of size on the fiber and easy access for cleaning.

Following surface treatment the fiber is dried through a contact dryer with a uniform surface temperature. After sizing, a non-contact dryer delivers uniform low velocity airflow with a filtration system to capture fibrous debris. Temperature for both dryers is controlled by a PLC with a SCADA interface.

Material handling equipment is engineered for precise tension and speed control, designed for safe operation and easy maintenance. Roller surfaces are damage resistant and the entire system is PLC controlled and monitored.

As an integrated solution provider we are able to install, commissioning and optimize your complete carbon fiber line for peak performance.