Despite
the many positive aspects of carbon fiber arising from
its light-weighting potential, high cost and related environmental
impact may inhibit even wider usage of the material in future. The
need to incinerate gaseous emissions generated during manufacture
significantly contributes to both eco-impact and cost, while information
regarding these emissions on a production line scale is lacking due
to the confidentiality behind commercial carbon fiber manufacturing.
A detailed assessment of the evolved gases generated during carbon
fiber production and the underlying mechanisms using a state-of-the-art
production scale research facility and in situ Fourier transform infrared
gas analysis is reported for the first time. A commercially available
polyacrylonitrile precursor was converted into carbon fibers, analyzing
the most significant exhaust gases from each production step. To identify
and quantify the evolved gases during transformation from the precursor
to carbon fibers, the evolution of the chemical composition and mass
throughout the process was studied. The emissions of HCN, NH3, CO, and CH4 were analyzed and correlated with the changing
elemental composition of the processed fibers. Changes in the concentration
of specific elements in the fibers were shown to be mirrored by the
composition of the gaseous emissions, and responsible chemical mechanisms
were introduced.
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