MACE (MicrowAve Cured Epoxy)

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Base Materials is a significant manufacturer and supplier of tooling board widely used tocreate tools used in the composites industry for the manufacture composite components. Theconstruction of tools from tooling board results in high levels of waste (typically 50%) andbecause it is non-recyclable the majority of it ends up in landfill; furthermore tooling boardwhich has a long curing cycle both at low and elevated temperatures which is energy intensiveand inefficient. The reason for the long (up to 5 days) low temperature curing cycle is to avoiduncontrolled temperature excursions which can lead to overheating and fires. A potentialsolution is to use microwave energy to cure the resin as it has the potential to minimisethermal excursions and significantly reduce curing times.Whilst this may seem to be an attractive process from a technical point of view the economicsof the technology has not been evaluated for tooling board and it is our proposal to review thelogistics, economics, safety, IPR and potential end use markets as a desk research exercise.