The University of Tennessee Space Institute’s carbon fiber research
team has successfully spun carbon fibers in the Institute’s new “spin
lab” earlier than previously planned.
“We were able to spin carbon fiber continuously for more than two hours
on Feb. 2, a couple of months ahead of our originally planned schedule,”
said Dr. Ahmad Vakili, who is leading the research. “This is the first
of many steps in the path to make low cost carbon fibers at UTSI. We
will be systematically moving ahead throughout the next steps as soon as
we practically can.”
Several of these “challenging steps” are necessary to complete and
perfect the process for mass production and commercial applications,”
the professor said.
The spin lab, donated to UTSI along with other major equipment,
supplies, and know-how by ConocoPhillips (COP), has been put together in
the past six months.
“This was a major first step for us at UTSI to both demonstrate our
ability to produce fibers from the large amount of pitch (precursor
material) that we received with the COP equipment,” Vakili said, “and
also to show to our funding agencies that we are going to deliver what
we have promised, hopefully on time.”
In December 2004, the Houston firm donated six truckloads of equipment
and commodities to UTSI after the U.S. Department of Transportation
awarded the Institute $950,000 to initiate the research program.
Congress has since approved $1 million to continue the research.
Congressman Lincoln Davis and Senators Bill Frist, Zach Wamp, and Lamar
Alexander have been supportive of this research.
The Institute’s plans include collaboration with UT Knoxville and the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and cultivation of commercial partners as
they work to establish Middle Tennessee as a center for pitched-based
carbon fiber application technologies. Vakili hopes to reach these goals
within three to five years.
Vakili said Mr. Joel Davenport and Mr. Peter Sherrouse, research
engineers, were “instrumental in reassembling the system, checking all
the components, including the controls, and making sure all the settings
are at operating conditions. This incremental success was accomplished
through dedication, hard work, and in consultation with Dan Rossillon, a
retired ConnocoPhillips employee who along with Vakili helped design the
various components and was responsible for the spin lab at COP.”
Other UTSI faculty and staff helping with the low-cost fiber technology
production program are Dr. Atul Sheth, UTSI Chemical Engineering
professor, Dr. Abraham Meganathan, post-doctoral research associate, Mr.
James R. Goodman, director of research labs, Mr. Wes McMinn, physical
plant director, and Ms. Charlotte Henley, administrative support
assistant.
Rossillon, who was on hand for the first spinning of fibers, said,
“We’ve duplicated the world class facility – the latest one we
(ConnocoPhillips) had” when the firm abandoned the project.
“The United States needs this material,” Rossillon said. “It will give
us an advantage in the aerospace field plus its applications for
automobiles and other purposes. As far as applications, we truly are
limited only by our imagination.”
Vakili plans to demonstrate that pitch-based carbon fiber can be
produced for about $5 a pound; Rossillon says the “actual manufacturing
cost will be less than $5 a pound.”
A graduate of UTSI and professor of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical
Engineering, Vakili has a long history of helping the U.S. fiber
industry solve various problems, including how to mass produce fibers
rather than producing a limited amounts at a time -- a major factor in
reducing the cost.
Dr. Ahmad Vakili, center, shows strands of
carbon fiber spun in UTSI’s “spin lab” to
Dr. John Caruthers, left, and Dr. Joel W. Muehlhauser.
Dr. Joel W. Muehlhauser and Joel Davenport, left, watch Dan Rossillon and
Dr. Ahmad Vakili, kneeling, examine newly spun fibers from UTSI’s Lab
Scale Spinning equipment while on the right, Dr. John Caruthers and
Peter Sherrouse check other pieces of fiber.
-- UTSI Photos
