IPCO’s process technology nominated for Award for Composite Excellence (ACE)

IPCO is one of three finalists for the award for equipment and tooling innovation. The winner will be announced on 10 September at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo in San Diego, California.

IPCO is the world leader in precision scattering technologies. Its ScatterPro FX, combined with its double-belt ThermoPress technology offers a continuous production process that can be used with a wide range of reclaimed/recycled material streams including recycled carbon fiber, glass fiber, nonwovens – and even recycled wind turbine blades.

The process includes fiber placement and uses double-belt press technology to form panels/sheets used for applications including automotive, mass transit flooring systems and side walls, construction and building materials, ocean freight container flooring systems, plywood replacement, architectural cladding and roofing underlays.

The recycled materials can be mechanically size-reduced (without the use of pyrolysis or solvolysis) and pre-blended with thermoset or thermoplastic polymers and reinforcement fibers prior to the scattering/fiber distribution process.

The fibers are precision-scattered onto the extended bottom belt of the double-belt press, which then heats, polymerizes, cures, consolidates, calibrates, and tempers the panels (if thermoplastic) in cooling zones under pressure – all in one continuous process.

The process allows for various thicknesses, densities and mechanical properties of the final product and the panels can be recycled and/or size-reduced at end of life for circularity. It can be seen in action at IPCO’s productivity center in Germany.

The Award for Composite Excellence (ACE) recognizes outstanding equipment and tooling innovation. The award is for the equipment, tooling, production aid, or software best designed to improve manufacturing production, environmental sustainability, or product quality and performance in composites manufacturing.

The winners will be announced on September 10 at CAMX 2024 – the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo – in San Diego, California.