SBIR Phase I: Novel Manufacturing Process for Cost-Effective Production of Discontinuous SiC Fibers from Renewable, Organic Precursors

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在开发一种具有成本效益和可扩展的制造工艺，以生产用于保护聚合物涂层的高性能碳化硅(SiC)纤维，以提高耐磨性和延长使用寿命。该项目的成果将包括减少对环境的破坏，以及与保护地下和海上管道基础设施等宝贵资产相关的潜在节省数十亿美元。拟议的第一阶段项目的成功完成将带来一种商业上可行的制造碳化硅纤维的工艺，与现有添加剂相比，该工艺可以将涂层的耐磨性和使用寿命提高至少30%，并且价格能够实现大批量应用。碳化硅纤维有望更快地取代目前主导市场的溶剂型涂料，转向可持续、环保的水性解决方案。在价值1000亿美元的全球防护涂料市场中，碳化硅纤维的广泛采用将推动高技能、高薪工作的创造，因为公司建立了研发团队，负责利用这项研究的成果开发新类别的产品。涂料用于在日益苛刻的环境中保护设备；需要延长使用寿命，以降低关键应用的总拥有成本。由于当前制造工艺的高成本，尽管观察到碳化硅纤维具有性能优势，但目前全球防护涂料行业并未将其用于商业用途。该项目将开发一种从可再生的、廉价的有机前驱体材料制造碳化硅纤维的工艺，在一个分步反应器中以高产量和低成本转化为成品。碳化硅纤维是不连续的，直径为5-10微米，长度超过30微米，具有高纯度和高密度，很容易分散在水或溶剂中，轻松地融入到各种保护涂料中。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to develop a cost-effective and scalable manufacturing process for producing high performance silicon carbide (SiC) fiber for use in protective polymer coatings to increase wear resistance and extend service lifetime. The outcomes of this project will include reduced environmental disruption and potential savings of billions of dollars associated with protecting valuable assets such as underground and offshore piping infrastructure. Successful completion of the proposed Phase I project will result in a commercially feasible process to manufacture SiC fiber which can increase coating wear resistance and service lifetime by at least 30 percent compared to existing additives, at a price point that enables high-volume applications. SiC fiber is expected to enable more rapid substitution away from solvent-based coatings which currently dominate the market and towards sustainable, environmentally friendly water-based solutions. Widespread adoption of SiC fiber in the $100 billion global protective coatings market will drive the creation of high-skill, high-paying jobs as companies build research and development teams tasked with developing new categories of products using the results of this research.Coatings are used to protect equipment in increasingly demanding environments; the need is for extended service lifetime to reduce total cost of ownership in critical applications. SiC fiber is not used commercially today by the global protective coatings industry in spite of observed performance benefits, because of the high cost of current manufacturing processes. The project will develop a process for manufacture of SiC fiber from renewable, inexpensive organic precursor material, converted to finished product in a single, step-wise reactor at high throughput and low cost. The SiC fiber will be discontinuous with a diameter of 5-10 microns and a length of over 30 microns, with a high purity and density, and it will be easily dispersed in water or solvent for effortless incorporation into a wide range of protective coatings.