Carbon fiber manufacturer Zoltek Corp. (St. Louis, Mo., USA) on Nov. 17 reported that it is expanding into a new 135,000-ft2/11,427m2 facility outside of St. Louis. The new facility will house Zoltek’s prepreg manufacturing and new Technical Center.
The company is making the move in response to the growing demand for a low-cost carbon fiber prepreg supply in wind energy and other applications. “Our strategy has been to commercialize carbon fiber and broaden its use in industrial applications through low-cost and supply availability,” says CEO Zsolt Rumy. “Unfortunately, the current carbon fiber prepreg supply is fragmented and geared towards aerospace markets rather than industrial use. We are addressing this shortfall by consolidating the supply chain and forward integrating into prepreg manufacturing for select industrial applications.”
St. Louis is home to Zoltek’s headquarters as well as one of its four carbon fiber manufacturing facilities. In addition to manufacturing prepreg carbon fiber, the new location will also serve as a technical center for carbon fiber applications, specifically targeting wind energy and automotive applications.
Zoltek notes that wind energy is a leading application for the company's prepreg carbon fiber due to its unique and inherent characteristics (high-stiffness, high-strength, lightweight). Recent trends in wind energy have spurred wind blade manufactures to create longer turbine blades which generate more energy. Carbon fiber composites have proven ideal for wind blade turbine reinforcement, enabling longer blades to capture more wind energy, even at lower wind speeds, and convert it to electricity.
Automotive is a growing application for carbon fibers, where the strength-to-weight ratio of carbon fibers enables vehicles to be lighter weight and therefore more fuel-efficient. Other applications include offshore drilling, infrastructure repair, marine, and other applications requiring a high strength and light-weight material.
In addition to the two production facilities in St. Louis, Zoltek has carbon fiber manufacturing facilities in Hungary, Mexico, and Texas.
