JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #139 - March/April 2021 - 21

BCF: developing industrial production for reinforcement materials and composites

Automotive: Composite parts
and car bodies (a composite car
body is 3-3.5 times lighter than a
steel one, resists corrosion, and
has a higher shock resistance);
light and solid composite armour for cash transit vans and
high-security cars; thermal and
sound insulating materials for
exhaust boxes; chopped fibres
for brake pads; clutch plates;
tyre cord; tanks for compressed
natural gas.
More information on the
application of BCF materials
in the automotive industry is
presented in [8]. Especially of
interest is the use of composite
materials for the production of
electric car bodies and highspeed railway wagons, which
reduces their weight by 3-3.5
times.
Aeronautics: BCF composites
for fuselage construction
(outer layer, strength elements,
frames, and stringers), wings
(outer skin, longerons, ribs
and body elements), airplane
empennages (slats, flaps, and
ailerons) and winglets, keels,
stabilizers, rudders, interior lining panels and parts for aircraft,
nacelles trim covering [9]. BCF
composites are extremely good
replacement materials for duralumin and carbon composite,
and significantly reduce aircraft
production costs [10].
Due to its high thermal and
chemical resistance, BCF can
be used in shipbuilding (hulls,
superstructures and overhauls)
and in the construction of
offshore and sea platforms. For
shipbuilding and critical industrial facilities (NPP, chemical and petrochemical plants,
high-rise construction, etc.),
non-combustible and fire-resistant materials are needed,
which can only be produced on
the basis of chemically-resistant

BCF and non-organic binders.
Oil and gas: Corrosion-resistant BCF composites for oilfield
and long-distance pipelines
(especially for sulphur crude),
wire-line oil pumps, oil depot
terminals, and liquid storage
tanks.

from the choice of natural basalt
reserves, factory project development, technical equipment
manufacturing,
installation,
starting-up and adjustment,
staff training and factory ramp
up to the designed capacity to
production distribution.

Electricity: Electric poles, power line suspension, insulators,
and bearing cores for wires.

Raw basalt for
BCF manufacturing
Magmatic basalt rocks are one
of the most common materials
on Earth. BFM TD classified
and identified the most suitable
types of deposits and basalts
for the production of BCF [11].
Laboratory facilities were set
up for melting basalt samples,
studying the melting process,
drawing and assessing the
quality of primary continuous
fibres.
The company accumulated
considerable experience in the
research of basalt deposits and
quarries for producing BCF in
different regions and countries
of the world.

Cable industry: Electro-insulating and protective materials
for power cables, protective
shells and bearing cores for
fibre optic cables.
Wind energy: Reinforcing materials for turbine tower footing,
BCF composite turbine towers,
propeller blades, engine pod
cowlings for wind farms.
Hydraulic power: Water pipes
for small hydroelectric power
stations; and earth-fill and
concrete dam reinforcements
for high-capacity hydro-electric
power stations.
Water services: Large- and
extra-large diameter pipes,
water supply collectors, pipes
for capillary wetting. The use
of BCF materials in the water
sector significantly reduces
water loss and leaks.
Civil
engineering: Water
supply pipes, hot water pipes,
wastewater piping, composite
drainage water collectors and
ditch covers.
To meet the demand for
basalt continuous fibre (BCF),
reinforcements and composite
materials (RCM), it is necessary to create a number of new
production plants. BFM TD
can create complex BCF and
RCM manufacturing plants,

The technological process for
BCF manufacturing can be
summarized as follows:
-	 basalt loading and intensive
heating to the active melting
temperature;
-	 melting to obtain an
amorphous melt with a
homogeneous structure and
composition;
-	 basalt melt overheating to
obtain the required degree of
amorphism; melting of higher temperature basalt rock
inclusions (quartz crystals,
magnesite, etc.);
-	 basalt melt outgassing;
-	 obtaining a homogeneous
melt of the desired viscosity;
-	 continuous fibre drawing
from the melt through
bushing dies and winding of
a primary fibres bundle on
the winder's spindle.

N°139 March - April 2021

The technological process for
basalt melting and primary
fibre drawing is detailed in [12]
and [13].
BCF production equipment
A range of technological
equipment is used for the
BCF manufacturing process,
from raw basalt melting to the
production of primary BCF
materials (roving bobbins,
chopped fibres, and spools of
complex twisted threads).
BFM TD developed two types
of equipment for BCF production: the FF BCF 8-1000 and
FF BCF 15-2000 multipost
feeders [14] and the ТЕ BCF
modular technological lines
[15,16,17].
The TE BCF modular technological lines process stone
melting aggregates with low
natural gas consumption and
can use slit gate bushings instead of stream feeders [18]. The
slit gate bushings are installed
directly into the basalt melt in
the oven feeder, so that they
are mainly heated with the
basalt melt, with a minimum
consumption of electricity. Due
to their lower weight, slit gate
bushings significantly reduce
the electricity consumption of
BCF manufacturing.
BFM TD performs research
in the BCF industry to create
more productive bushing assemblies and increase drawing
die quantities. This increases
production capacity while
reducing labour intensity
and prime costs of BCF. The
company already developed
four generations of modular
technological lines. BFM TD's
innovative technologies and
equipment significantly reduce
the cost of energy required to

/ jec composites magazine

21
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #139 - March/April 2021

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