It has a wool-like feel, burns without an open flame and extinguishes when you leave the fire, which is the distinguishing feature of flame retardant acrylic. Flame-retardant acrylic fiber is mainly used to make protective clothing, special functional clothing, industrial fabrics, etc. It is widely used in fire protection, clothing, electric power, petroleum, chemical and other industries, and has a huge market potential.
On January 22, Hay Think learned from AHAQ Chemical Fiber Technology Group that after nearly one and a half years of technology research and development, the company has successfully trial-produced qualified flame-retardant acrylic fiber products at the end of 2020, filling the sodium thiocyanate production process in China. The gap in flame-retardant acrylic fiber also adds new profit growth points for the acrylic fiber segment.
In recent years, as the production capacity of conventional acrylic fibers has become saturated and market competition pressure has increased, how to reverse the passive situation of insufficient profitability? AHAQ has accelerated the pace of new product development and product structure adjustment. "In the future, we will focus on the development of new high-value-added products. The acrylic fiber product line can be made into carbon fiber and flame-retardant acrylic fiber. After market research, we found that there are many carbon fiber manufacturers in China, while few domestic manufacturers of flame-retardant acrylic fiber are involved." The CTO of AHAQ said that in the end they set their sights on the production and development of flame-retardant acrylic.
The market has great demand for flame-retardant acrylic fibers. At present, only one company in China can produce it, with an annual output of only about 5,000 tons, and the market is in short supply. At present, flame-retardant acrylic fibers still rely heavily on imports. The use of the existing sodium thiocyanate method for the production of acrylic fibers to produce flame-retardant acrylic fibers has been monopolized by international giants due to the high technical difficulty. If they want to produce flame-retardant acrylic fibers on a large scale, they can only rely on their own technical research.
In June 2019, the feasibility study of the project was approved, and related basic design, technical services and quality standards were successively launched; after exploring and verifying the configuration conditions of flame retardants, through continuous technical improvement, the trial production was successfully completed on October 31 of that year. The blended flame-retardant staple fiber that reached the expected goal, the project immediately entered the construction stage; on March 31, 2020, the trial production of the blended flame-retardant fiber with key indicators meeting the design requirements; in the most difficult polymer preparation process After more than a hundred nights and nights, the technicians finally realized the flame retardant copolymerization + blending process on November 11, 2020, and smoothly produced qualified products with a limiting oxygen index of 28.2% on December 26. It fills the gap in the production of flame-retardant acrylic fiber by the sodium thiocyanate method in China.
"Relying on the existing equipment conditions, we have successfully trial-produced qualified products through technical research, which lays a solid foundation for us to further optimize mass production." The flame-retardant acrylic fiber produced by AHAQ retains the excellent characteristics of acrylic fiber, and has a comfortable hand feel and high bulkiness. It has the reputation of artificial wool and has strong market practicability, which can meet the needs of different fields. "According to market feedback, the demand for flame-retardant acrylic fiber is large. We have now produced some samples for downstream customers to make samples. It is expected that mass production will be officially launched after the Spring Festival.