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BMW and SGL to triple production capacity at Moses Lake carbon fiber plant with $200M expansion; world’s largest carbon fiber plant

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A production line for carbon fiber takes the PAN precursor through two stages (stabilization/oxidation and carbonization) and then to winding. The site expansion, scheduled to be completed by early 2015, will make the plant in Moses Lake the world’s largest carbon fiber plant. 3,000 tons of carbon fiber.

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Fujitsu & Teijin in joint trials with V Frames & Advanced Bikes with recycled carbon fiber; blockchain platform

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In Europe, many bicycle manufacturers use frames manufactured in Asia, and many of these frames are also ultimately disposed of in landfills in Asia. Earlier post.) Earlier post.)

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Ford displays prototype Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic hood

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At the Composites Europe event in Dusseldorf, Ford Motor Company displayed a prototype carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) hood. Carbon fiber offers a very high strength-to-weight ratio; it is up to five times as strong as steel, twice as stiff, and one-third the weight. Earlier post.)

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DOE to award up to $12M for technologies to produce renewable carbon fiber from biomass

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The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award ( DE-FOA-0000996 ) up to $12 million in funding to advance the development of a cost-competitive pathway to produce high-performance carbon fiber for vehicle lightweighting from renewable non-food biomass. Reducing a vehicle’s weight by just 10% can improve fuel economy by 6% to 8%.

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First prototype carbon fiber chassis delivered from new £50M McLaren Automotive innovation and manufacturing center

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The first prototype carbon fiber MonoCell, the tub that forms the main structure of McLaren’s cars, has been shipped from the company’s new £50-million (US$66-million) innovation and production center in Yorkshire to the McLaren Production center (MPC) in Woking, Surrey. All McLaren’s sportscars and supercars will be hybrid by 2024.

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Study links carbon fiber microstructure to Li insertion mechanism in structural batteries

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Carbon fibers have already beeen demonstrated as high-capacity Li-ion battery anodes, opening the way for their use as structural electrodes—i.e., The researchers studied the microstructure of different types of commercially available carbon fibers. This would, in turn, also increase their energy storage capacity.

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Magna to produce carbon fiber composite body panels

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Magna Exteriors, an operating unit of Magna International, has been awarded new business to supply painted automotive body panels made from carbon fiber composite material for two 2016 model-year vehicles. This effort followed the successful collaboration between Magna and Zoltek to develop CFS-Z carbon fiber sheet molding compound.