New technology for the high-value utilization of fly ash to produce continuous fibers (long fibers)

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Glass fiber and basalt fiber are the two most widely used high-performance fiber materials in the fields of building materials and composite materials. Glass fiber is lightweight, high-strength, insulating, and corrosion-resistant, making it the most widely used reinforcing material. It is primarily employed in construction materials, wind turbine blades, vehicle weight reduction, electronics and electrical applications, as well as environmental protection filtration systems in large-scale industrial sectors. Recently, driven by demand from fields such as AI, the prices of some electronic-grade glass fiber products have risen significantly, reaching over 9,000 yuan per ton. Made from natural volcanic rock, basalt fiber outperforms ordinary glass fiber in terms of strength, heat resistance, acid and alkali resistance, and aging resistance. Its cost-performance ratio lies between that of glass fiber and carbon fiber. It is widely used in applications that require high performance, such as the reinforcement of high-end infrastructure, fire and flame resistance, high-temperature filtration, marine corrosion protection, rail transit, and components for new energy industries; its price can reach up to 20,000 yuan per ton. Currently, the production of traditional glass fiber and basalt fiber relies heavily on mineral resources such as quartz and basalt, resulting in high resource consumption and elevated production costs. Fly ash is rich in quartz phase, and its chemical composition is very similar to that of basalt, giving it natural advantages for replacing quartz and basalt in the production of glass fibers and basalt fibers. In the past, the industrial production of chopped fibers such as papermaking fibers and rock wool fibers using fly ash has been achieved, but the added value of these products is low, and they lack core competitiveness. In recent years, domestic research institutions and enterprises have worked together to make significant breakthroughs in the use of fly ash to produce continuous glass fibers and continuous basalt fibers (long fibers). From optimizing the raw material mixtures and precisely controlling the composition, to developing new processes for melting and drawing the fibers and improving their properties, as well as expanding their applications in high-value areas and advancing their industrialization, various key technical challenges have been overcome one by one. This has enabled the industry to move from laboratory research to large-scale production, with demonstration production lines for fly ash-based continuous fibers already established in China.