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Company
• API originates from ENKA, AKU, Akzo Nobel, Acordis Industrial Fibers and Diolen Industrial Fibers and has over 50 years of R&D experience
• Independent company, emerged in 2008
• Located in Emmen, The Netherlands
• ± 20 Employees
• Laboratory and pilot plant
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Laboratory and pilot-plant:an effective combination
Pilot-plant equipment
• Glass autoclave of 1 kg and 2-reactor autoclave for polymerization of 30 kg
• Tumble dryers 2 kg, 60 kg and 120 kg:• drying• crystallization• solid-state post-condensation
• Twin screw extruder: compounding and film-extrusion with additional thermoforming
• Haake extruder: film casting,film blowing
• Small scale spinning machine withseparate drawing
• Monofilament spinning machine• SDW machine (up to 70 kg/hour)
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Laboratory and pilot-plant:an effective combination
Laboratory
Analysis and characterization of polymers and polymer productsby means of:• thermal analysis • rheology• microscopy• physical structure analysis
• XRD• density• sonic modulus• birefringence• DSC
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Laboratory and pilot-plant:an effective combination
Polymer specifications
Physical structure
Final product:- tensile properties- creep resistance- resilience- etc.
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Laboratory: XRD
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Laboratory: sonic modulus, density
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Laboratory: birefringence, melting point
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Development of new high-end applications using (bio)polymers
Consultancy
Production of multifilamentyarns and monofilaments for
niche markets
Main areas of investigation
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• R&D projects for customers• Production of products for niche markets• Consultancy• Toll manufacturing and cooperation:
– multifilament– monofilament for 3D printing– monofilament specialties
Business model
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Track record
• High modulus ultra low shrinkage tire yarn• High tenacity PET yarn• Low shrinkage PET yarn• Spun dyed safety belt yarn• Several other confidential developments for customers that are
close to market introduction
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PLA multifilament yarns andmonofilaments
• Standard technical yarns and carpet yarns• Monofilaments with improved resilience• Yarns with improved tenacity• Ropes with improved creep resistance
• Monofilaments
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Standard PLA technical yarns
• Substitution: using bio-based yarns to replace oil-based yarnsin narrow fabrics
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Standard PLA carpet yarns
• Temporary carpet:– PLA yarns (developed)– PLA fabric (developed)– secondary backing (still under development)
• Aim: composting after use
• Carpet with C2C label• Aim: recycling
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Monofilaments with improved resilience
• Compostable artificial grass• Monofilaments, fabric, secondary backing and infill are
compostable• Two ‘Dutch basketball’ fields are being installed in the first half
of 2014• The first soccer field is planned
in the second half of 2014
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Yarns with improved tenacity
• PLA yarns have a lower tenacity compared to traditional yarnslike PET and PA
• This reduces the number of linear reinforcement applications
• Improvement of tenacity:– selection of the right type of polymer– optimization of spinning process– driven by fundamental physical investigations
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Yarns with improved tenacity
small scale spinning experiments withlow-D polymer from different suppliers: Ingeo 6100D, Corbion PLLA L175,Synterra 2010
Ingeo 4032D
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Yarns with improved tenacity
Ingeo 4032D
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• Biocompostable cord• After harvest removal of complete
system of ground, cord and plant waste
Ropes with improved creep resistance
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Ropes with improved creep resistance
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Ropes with improved creep resistance
• First field tests are planned for 2014• Commercialization planned for 2015
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Monofilaments for 3D printing
PLA• Wide range of colors• Glow-in-the-dark• Thermochromic• Flame retardant• New types under development
Non-PLA• ABS• Flexible (Arnitel ECO)• Transparent• Water soluble
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Monofilaments for 3D printing
• Own brand• Major producer in Europe• We will enter the market with several new products each year
• Standard products are sold in Europe• Specialties are sold worldwide
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Outlook
• PLA for 3D printing monofilaments will grow rapidly.• PLA multifilament yarns will be a niche market, especially based
on applications for which compostability is an advantage.• Number of applications will increase when the properties
(tenacity, creep resistance, etc.) improve.
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Acknowledgement
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APPLIED POLYMER INNOVATIONS [email protected] Box 2250, 7801 CG Emmen, THE NETHERLANDSwww.api-institute.com
