14 November 2022
The National Composites Centre, Cygnet Texkimp and B&M Longworth have been awarded the Innovation in Composite Materials award at the 2022 Composite UK Industry Awards.
The partners were recognised for their ground-breaking work reclaiming continuous carbon fibres from a whole pressure vessel and re-using them to manufacture a new pressure vessel.
To reclaim and unwind the fibres, the project team used the innovative fibre recycling solution, DEECOM.
DEECOM® uses pressure in a superheated steam atmosphere – a process called pressolysis – to reclaim fibres and resins from end-of-life composite components and offers the potential for both elements to be reused in the manufacture of new parts.
The technology is being developed to help overcome the challenges of waste and supply in composites and create a more sustainable future for the industry.
DEECOM® offers a way to reclaim long-form and continuous fibres which retain length, shape and performance and can be remanufactured into new composite parts. This sets the solution apart from alternative methods and means it has the potential to deliver genuine circularity in high-value composites.
