Product

Carbon fibres are used primarily in composites; these are structures containing two or more components, in the case of fibre reinforced composites this is the fibre and a resin.

A composite containing two types of fibre, e.g. carbon and glass, is known as a hybrid composite structure. The origins of textile reinforced composites are linked to the development of glass fibres, which commenced in 1938 by the Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation (USA).

Original large-scale applications included air filtration, thermal and electrical insulation and the reinforcement of plastics. As the technology of textile reinforced composites expanded, a growing demand from the aerospace industry for composite materials with superior properties emerged. In particular, materials with (1) higher specific strength, (2) higher specific moduli and (3) low density were required. Other desirable properties are good fatigue resistance and dimensional stability.

Carbon fibres were developed to meet this demand, Bluestar Fibres provide the precursor that allows the Carbon Fibre to be made. CFP (Carbon Fibre Precursor) is continuous filament acrylic tow made to precise specifications, for conversion into oxidised and carbonised fibres, for use in a broad range of aerospace, sporting goods and industrial applications including golf shafts, wind turbine blades, mobile phones, aircraft brakes, automotive, fire retardant clothing and other high strength products. The products have been developed specifically for this industry and combine the characteristics of low temperature oxidation and consistent quality.

In addition to the product range set out in the table our highly flexible production facility enables us to respond to individual customer needs in both experimental and commercial quantities.

About Us

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of a large multi-national Chinese Corporation.

They are one of China's fastest growing chemical groups. Headquartered in Beijing, it has a staff of more than 150,000 people, and is one of the country's leading speciality chemical and, increasingly, petrochemical companies.

The company was established in 2004 via the merger of several large Chinese multi-national Corporations as part of a government-driven plan to create some 100 companies big enough to be globally competitive.

History

The current Grimsby site was originally farmland acquired by Courtaulds Ltd in 1952 to build a Viscose fibre operation. The initial phase of a power station was built in 1956 to supply the planned Viscose operation, which opened in 1957.

In 1959, Courtaulds started the Courtelle/Acrylic South Factory on the Grimsby site to make carpet fibre. During the mid 1960’s the business was expanded with the commissioning of the North West (lines G to L), followed a few years later by the North East factory (lines R to W). The West factory was commissioned in 1973 which took the acrylic capacity to approximately 80,000 tonnes per annum.

In the early 1960's Courtaulds, Morgan Crucible and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) started a joint development programme to turn the batch process for the carbonisation of acrylic fibre into a continuous process. In 1963, they successfully developed this process and consequently started the carbon fibre industry and demand for acrylic fibre precursor.

In 1976, Courtaulds realised that there was a market for an independent source of carbon fibre precursor and started manufacture of this heavy tow (textile tow) precursor in Grimsby (25 tonnes in 1976). Over the next 20 years, the demand for an independent source of precursor grew and so did the number of customers as new markets evolved, like carbon carbon brakes, aircraft insulation, short cut carbon fibre, flame retardant fibres and continuous carbon fibre.

In 1998, following a period of financial difficulties, Courtaulds accepted a friendly takeover bid from Akzo Nobel. As a consequence the Grimsby acrylic operation (Courtelle) became Acordis UK Ltd.

In December 2006, the precursor business was acquired and re-named Bluestar Fibres Company Ltd.

In April 2007 Technical Absorbents Ltd became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bluestar Fibres Limited.