A newly patented system that uses microwave energy could greatly reduce the cost of producing carbon fiber from polymer precursors while cutting the amount of effluent gases. The technology, invented by a team that includes Felix Paulauskas of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, consists of an elongated atmosphere-controlled chamber in which the material undergoes complete carbonization. This microwave-assisted plasma carbonization is equivalent to the entire low- and high-temperature carbonization in the conventional conversion process. These steps represent much of the time and cost in the overall carbon fiber manufacturing process. The patent, US 8,679,592 B2, is titled “System to Continuously Produce Carbon Fiber via Microwave Assisted Plasma Processing.”
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