Pilot plant

Pilot Plant polymer synthesis
Within API Institute laboratory-scale equipment is available to produce polyester-like materials in a 1 kg one-reactor glass vessel. This kind of batch-type operation allows researchers to study several process parameters (e.g. foaming, discoloration, the use of non-antimony type of catalysts, and the influence of additives on the polymerization).

Pilot Plant polymer processing
Spinning is the process whereby a material, usually a polymer, is shaped into a bundle of filaments, called a fiber. In our pilot plant We have the equipment for plymer processing.

Fiber finishing
The spinning machines within our Pilot Plant can be used to study new fiber finish components and develop new fiber finishes. Fiber finishes - formulated from lubricants, surface active compounds, and additives - are applied to man-made fibers so they will run smoothly and yield high-quality "tailor-made" products with properties that meet customers' specifications.

We have the know-how needed to develop new finishes for industrial and textile yarns, and to study the effects on process parameters, including environmental aspects and product properties. More commonly, industrial yarns are embedded in a thermoset, thermoplastic, or elastomeric matrix for reinforcement. The mechanical properties of such composite material can only be optimized when adhesion between fiber and matrix is near-perfect. Adhesion promoters may therefore be applied to the fiber, in addition to the processing finish already in place. The additives or finishes applied to industrial fibers or fabrics also include those used to achieve special effects, such as water-repellent properties.

A diverse range of spinning machine components or hardware can be studied in detail in our spinning processes. Several kinds of on-line sensors, e.g. fluff counters or birefringence measurements, measure the impact of the new components on the performance of the spinning process.

Contact API Institute 

API Institute
Postbus 2250
7801 CG Emmen
Eerste Bokslootweg 17
7821 AT Emmen
The Netherlands

T +31 (0) 591 69 2117
F +31 (0) 591 69 3456
E info@api-institute.com