Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber is a scarce material worldwide. The world's annual demand is about 50,000 tons, of which the United States accounts for 70%. However, the current world production is less than 9,000 tons, leaving a huge gap. According to expert predictions, the annual market demand for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber will be more than 100,000 tons in the next 10 years, with huge market potential and broad prospects.
The research and development and industrialization situation of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in the world
Currently, the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber manufacturers abroad include DSM of the Netherlands and Honeywell of the United States. Company (Honeywell), Japan's Toyobo Corporation (Toyobo)*** three companies can produce industrially, and their total annual output is less than 9,000 tons.
In the late 1970s, the Dutch company DSM successfully used gel spinning to spin ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, and began industrial production in 1990 with the trademark dyneema . The company is the founding company of this fiber and is the highest-volume and best-quality manufacturer of this fiber in the world, with an annual output of approximately 5,000 tons. In the 1980s, the American company Allied-Singal purchased the patents of the Dutch company DSM, developed its own production process and industrialized it. In 1990, Allied Signal was merged with Honeywell and continued to produce ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber under the trademark Spectra, with an annual output of approximately 3,000 tons. A joint venture between Toyobo Corporation of Japan and DSM of the Netherlands produces ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in Japan under the trademark dyneema. The sales area is limited to Japan and Taiwan Province of China, with an annual output of about 600 tons. At that time, there were certain differences in the use structures of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers in Europe, the United States and Japan. Europe and the United States are mainly used for body armor and weapons and equipment, accounting for 60 to 70% of the total, followed by ropes and cables accounting for 20%, fishing nets and other products accounting for 5, and labor protection accounting for 5; Japan is mainly used for ropes, fishing nets, and protection, especially anti-cutting. The use of gloves in the painting process of automobile production has reached 1/4 of the total demand for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers.
Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber has been developing rapidly since its commercial production. Since the terrorist incidents in the United States and the ongoing local wars around the world, the demand for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers for bulletproof clothing and military equipment has expanded rapidly. Also in the civilian field, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber products have quickly become the main materials for offshore ropes, offshore fishing nets and offshore net boxes due to their excellent performance, and their market demand has maintained strong growth. Although DSM of the Netherlands, Honeywell of the United States, and Mitsui of Japan have expanded production several times in recent years, with output increasing at a rate of more than 8% per year, they still cannot meet market demand.
1. The situation of DSM in the Netherlands. After the terrorist incident in the United States in 2001, demand for body armor products surged, mainly in the United States. DSM quickly expanded and increased its production capacity by more than 10%. According to reports, in 2006, the Dutch company DSM planned to build a new production line based on the original production line at the Greenville plant in North Carolina, the United States, which would bring the company's total fiber production lines to 10. The new device is expected to be installed in 2008. Early production. And the products from the Greenville factory are still mainly supplied to the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies to this day.
2. The situation of Honeywell Company in the United States. Honeywell in the United States has not expanded its production so far. In 2006, it reached an understanding with DSM on the differences regarding ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber, tacitly agreeing to DSM's continuous expansion of production in the United States. The details of which are unknown. It is reported that the main auxiliary materials in Honeywell's production process are CFCs (commonly known as Freon). The use of CFCs has brought huge technical obstacles to production expansion.
3. The situation of Mitsui Corporation of Japan. In April 2003, Japan's Mitsui Company began to build a new ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber production line. Together with the original production equipment, Japan's annual designed production capacity reached 600 tons.
Product focus is on expanding the work gloves, fishing line and rope markets. my country has begun research on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers in 1985. Donghua University and Yancheng Institute of Ultra-Strong Polymer Materials Engineering Technology have joined the research and development ranks and have achieved a series of major theoretical breakthroughs. Immediately, some companies invested in pilot tests and small-scale industrial production. So far, through unremitting efforts, their fiber performance has reached the international medium level and has their own characteristics, and some have entered the stage of large-scale production. At present, there are 5 domestic companies that produce ultra-high-precision materials: Zhengzhou Antai Protection Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Tongyizhong Special Fiber Technology Development Co., Ltd., Hunan Zhongtai Special Equipment Co., Ltd., Ningbo Dacheng New Materials Co., Ltd., and Shandong Aidi Polymer Materials Co., Ltd. Molecular weight polyethylene fibers have achieved great results. However, due to the different process methods and equipment routes adopted by these five companies, there is a large gap in product quality and single machine output.
Among the above four companies, Beijing Tongyizhong Special Fiber Technology Development Co., Ltd. (BJTYZ) has built an annual production capacity of 1,000 tons of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber (DOYENTRONTEX fiber) after nearly 20 years of technological development. )'s production base, Shandong Aidi also built a production base with an annual output of 200 tons in 2005. At present, the manufacturing, installation, and engineering start-up of most of their equipment benefit from the support of Yancheng Shentai Textile Equipment Co., Ltd. All production equipment operates stably, is designed to be environmentally friendly, has high single-machine production capacity, and has a good level of self-control, from material input to completion. The entire wire winding process is produced continuously, all production auxiliary materials are recycled, and the product quality is stable.
Increasing the output of a single machine, realizing large-scale production, and driving industrial upgrading with technological progress, so that the preparation technology and equipment level of my country's ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber are close to the international advanced level, will be the key to the development of this product in our country Directions and requirements. Currently, Yancheng Super Polymer Materials Engineering Technology Research Institute and Donghua University are jointly researching and developing a new generation of high-yield, high-quality processes and equipment technologies. To this end, in the "11th Five-Year Plan" "Textile Industry Science and Technology Progress and Development Outline", the country focuses on the industrialization research and development of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber as the first among the 28 key technologies for breakthroughs in the textile industry, and requires "the domestic In-depth research on application technologies such as the new generation of ultra-high-strength and high-film polyethylene that have already been established will achieve industrial upgrading."
Market Situation
The high-end market for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber is rope net manufacturing, followed by bulletproof sheets (UD). The annual output of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in my country is close to 3,000 tons. It is mainly used to make stab-proof clothing, body-proof vests, bullet-proof helmets, ropes, ocean fishing nets, fishing lines, labor protection, etc. Some fibers are exported to some countries in Europe, America and Asia. and region. It has been gradually used in the domestic defense field and is also being promoted in civilian applications. The annual market demand is about 10,000 tons or more. With the realization of large-scale industrial production of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber in my country, as well as the decline in production costs and product prices, it will quickly drive China's research and development in its national defense and civilian applications, especially in the civilian field (ropes and cables , ocean fishing nets, offshore aquaculture, labor protection), the application scope will continue to expand, the social benefits will become wider and wider, and the market demand will maintain strong growth. The development of China's ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber will also have unusual strategic significance for national defense construction and military equipment.