Vectorply
Published

DowAksa to establish U.S. carbon fiber manufacturing presence

DowAksa, a joint venture of Dow and acrylic specialist AKSA, has established DowAksa USA and plans to build an industrial-grade carbon fiber manufacturing operation in the U.S. sometime in the next three to five years.

Share

Industrial carbon fiber manufacturer DowAksa (Istanbul, Turkey), a joint venture of acrylic specialist AKSA (Istanbul, Turkey) and chemical giant Dow (Midland, Mich., USA), announced on Oct. 28 at a company event in Atlanta, Ga., USA, that it plans to establish an industrial-grade carbon fiber manufacturing operation in the United States sometime in the next three to five years to support the automotive, infrastructure, wind and industrial markets. To start the effort, the company is establishing DowAksa USA, which will be based in Marietta, Ga., and led by U.S. general manger Eric Coleman.

Kostas Katsoglou, DowAksa CEO, told CompositesWorld (CW) that his company believes that "the carbon fiber market in the U.S. is about to explode. It is essential for us to have a permanent presence in the U.S." Katsoglou said DowAksa is in the process of evaluating potential locations for the plant.

The type and quantity of industrial-grade carbon fiber to be produced by the prospective facility are not yet determined, Katsoglou said. "We will start with a prepreg line and depending on market developments, we will continue with the manufacture of dry carbon fiber and possibly precursor," he noted. Katsoglou says the facility’s size and function will be determined by DowAksa’s automotive strategy, which seeks to establish with potential customers — automotive OEMs — a partnership in which the customer's applications help determine the type of product DowAksa produces. DowAksa's intent, he says, is to be fully integrated in the supply chain. "This thing [manufacturing facility] will happen pretty soon," he said. "We are working on multiple relationships, which will determine type of carbon fiber. Everything is on the table."

Marco Barsacchi, DowAksa CTO, said the company plans, through the new facility, to address the full spectrum of composites manufacturing with its OEM customers, providing design, engineering, processing and technical services. Along these lines, Coleman noted that "no one else can impact molecule-to-market the way DowAksa can," meaning that the company offers the raw materials and applications engineering expertise required to help bring a composite structure or component to market quickly and efficiently. Coleman added that AKSA's ample supply of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor offers DowAksa unusual scale-up flexibility in the plant's capacity.

DowAksa already has an automotive composites relationship with which to work. Dow, in 2012, established a joint development agreement with automaker Ford Motor Co. to develop low-cost carbon fiber composites for high-volume automotive manufacturing use. Other automotive OEMs, in the U.S. and Europe, are being targeted by DowAksa as well, Katsoglou said.

Katsoglou's belief in the promise of the carbon market rests in part on increased composites use in automotive applications, triggered by efficiency and emissions regulations in the U.S. and Europe, and enabled by decreasing carbon fiber costs. Over the last year, he noted, DowAksa has optimized its carbon fiber manufacturing process in Turkey to help reduce production costs by 15 percent. Further optimization, he said, will make carbon cost-competitive with legacy materials like steel, thus removing one of the major hurdles to widespread automotive carbon fiber adoption. "The issue of cost is an industry issue that we will solve," Katsoglou said.

Beyond automotive, DowAksa has its eyes on the infrastructure and wind markets as well. The company acquired in 2013 CarbonWrap, which provides dry and wet carbon fiber fabric and epoxy solutions and engineering services for bridge, building, structure and pipe rehabilitation and reinforcement. DowAksa is also working with Energetx Composites (Holland, Mich., USA) on the development of a material-enabled automated manufacturing process that uses the VIPER tape layer (made by Fives Cincinnati, based in Hebron, Ky., USA) to efficiently and quickly fabricate carbon fiber wind blade spars. 

Katsoglou acknowledged that DowAksa's plans are ambitious, but said he his convinced that the time is right for such a commitment to the carbon fiber composites manufacturing market. "On the one hand we are excited," he said. "On the other, we know we have a large mountain to climb." 

Harper International Carbon Fiber
Composites One
Toray Advanced Composites
BARRDAY PREPREG
Renegade Material Composites
performance composite reinforcements
Custom Quantity Composite Repair Materials
3D industrial laser projection
Toray public database prepreg materials
Chem Trend
Sysenqo high performance materials
CW Tech Days Sustainability - Register Today!

Related Content

Wind/Energy

Recycling end-of-life composite parts: New methods, markets

From infrastructure solutions to consumer products, Polish recycler Anmet and Netherlands-based researchers are developing new methods for repurposing wind turbine blades and other composite parts.

Read More
Infrastructure

Cleveland pedestrian drawbridge features FRP decking from Creative Composites Group

Lightweight molded panels with hybrid non-skid technology system make up the new double dutch-style bascule bridge completing Cleveland’s harbor loop.  

Read More
Infrastructure

Composites end markets: Infrastructure and construction (2024)

Composites are increasingly used in applications like building facades, bridges, utility poles, wastewater treatment pipes, repair solutions and more.

Read More
Carbon Fibers

Composites-reinforced concrete for sustainable data center construction

Metromont’s C-GRID-reinforced insulated precast concrete’s high strength, durability, light weight and ease of installation improve data center performance, construction time and sustainability.

Read More

Read Next

Trends

CW’s 2024 Top Shops survey offers new approach to benchmarking

Respondents that complete the survey by April 30, 2024, have the chance to be recognized as an honoree.

Read More
Pressure Vessels

Composites end markets: Energy (2024)

Composites are used widely in oil/gas, wind and other renewable energy applications. Despite market challenges, growth potential and innovation for composites continue.

Read More
Thermoplastics

From the CW Archives: The tale of the thermoplastic cryotank

In 2006, guest columnist Bob Hartunian related the story of his efforts two decades prior, while at McDonnell Douglas, to develop a thermoplastic composite crytank for hydrogen storage. He learned a lot of lessons.

Read More
Vectorply