History - Acrylic Fibers

The firsts attempts to obtain acrylic fibers were made in Germany, by Dr. H.Rein from the I.G. Farbenindustrie company in 1931.

The main component of acrylic fibers is the acrylonitrile, a derivative of crude petroleum. Gasoline is produced in it's process of distillation and by catalytic Cracking produces different products like: ethylene, heptane, hexane, octane, methane, hydrogen, acetylene and propileno which is the base for the production of the acrylonitrile.

Dr. Rein's first difficulty was the search of a right dissolvent for the polyacrilonitrile (PAN). While the firsts organic dissolvents (using components of ammonium) weren't throwing any satisfactory Results, Du Pont de Nemours and I.G. Faberindustrie companies work out the problem by using organic dissolvents like the DIMETHYL FORMAMIDE ( DMF).

World war II contributed considerably to the intensification of studies on the production of general acrylic fibers and acrylic fibers in particular. As a result, Orlon by Dupont and Dralon by Bayer acrylic fibers appears in the market places.

At the present time (year 2005), world-wide demand projection of acrylic fibers is about de 2'781,000 TM, according to the information on the 2004 Acrylonirile & Derivates World Supply/Demand Report, with a world-wide growth of nearly 2% to year 2010.

The Fibers - Origins