US Patent Issued on May 5 for "Apparatus and method for close proximity carbonization of polymeric materials for carbon fiber production" (Tennessee, Maryland, Massachusetts Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,618,175, issued on May 5.

"Apparatus and method for close proximity carbonization of polymeric materials for carbon fiber production" was invented by William W. Wallace (North Dighton, Mass.), Hippolyte A. Grappe (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), Felix L. Paulauskas (Knoxville, Tenn.), H. Felix Wu (Frederick, Md.) and Truman Bonds (Knoxville, Tenn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An apparatus and method for the low temperature carbonization of a continuous tow of polymeric material fiber, such as PAN or other carbon fiber precursor materials at atmospheric pressure in an inert gas (usually nitrogen or argon) is disclosed. A pair of antennas are arranged ...