By Scott Richlen
We are now coming to the close of the first phase of the CFCC Program. We have achieved tremendous progress in CFCC processing!
Much of what we have accomplished has been facilitated by the leadership and involvement of three major players: industry (often working through their industry association, the United States Advanced Ceramics Association); the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and the U.S. Government (working through the Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies).
Because of our ability to coordinate and due to our accomplishments, we very much are a "Model Program." My thanks to everyone who has contributed to this!
Speaking of accomplishments, they are quite significant and include:
* Substantial technical progress in the development of improved material performance and in material processing (documented in DOE/OR-2003 "Technical Progress Report for Phase I");
* Identification of numerous major applications for CFCC components in industry and their related benefits (documented in DOE/OR-2002 "CFCCs for Low Cost Energy and a Cleaner Environment");
* Identification of and interactions with most of the other potential government players in CFCCs (as documented in Inventory of Federal Funded CFCC R&D Projects and as brought out at our recent CFCC Program Washington Review by the many speakers representing various segments of government);
* Initiating the development of standards (through the leadership of Mike Jenkins and the ASTM C28 committee on advanced ceramics);
* Strategic planning that identifies the major barriers to the commercialization of CFCC components in industry.
Progress is continuing. As you read this, we are well into the start of Phase II of the program. If our past record of accomplishment is any indication, we will now make even larger strides in CFCC processing development. Finally, over the next few months we will be publishing some additional information that you may find of interest:
* A more detailed recommendation on fiber needs that includes information on performance in various environments;
* A summary of the material performance requirements of the many (and increasing) industrial applications of CFCCs;
* A discussion of benefits (both energy, environmental, and jobs) versus market size (pounds of composite sales) for the various industrial applications under consideration in the program.
Stay tuned!
Comments to: mgc@ornl.gov