Читать книгу Concise Handbook of Fluorocarbon Gases - Sina Ebnesajjad - Страница 17

Extreme properties of fluoropolymers have made them among the most useful modern materials. They provide: nonstick surfaces for cookware and industrial products, waterproofing surface treatments for clothing and other substrates, stain barriers for textiles, high-purity fluid handling in the form of tubes, pipes, gaskets, seals and thread sealant tape, medical devices, wire and cable insulation jackets, high-performance coatings, back sheet for photovoltaic panels, films and membranes for technical, waterproof clothing, and industrial applications. Figure 1.7 shows the breakdown of consumption of fluoropolymers by type.

Figure 1.7 Breakdown (2018) of worldwide consumption of fluoropolymers by Type [15].

PTFE at 58% (in 2015) has the highest consumption volume among fluoropolymers. Significantly, PTFE is the oldest product of all fluoropolymers its commercialization dating back to 1946. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has the second highest volume (under 20%) followed by perfluorinated ethylene propylene copolymers (FEP) at about 10%. PVDF and FEP are fastest growing fluoropolymers.

A number of fluoropolymers are consumed at lower volumes including: polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETFE), pefluoropropyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA), pefluoromethyl vinyl ether copolymer (MFA), polyvinyl fluoride (PVF), ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (ECTFE), tetrafluoroethylenehexafluoropropylene-vinylidene fluoride terpolymer (THV), chlorotrifluoroethylene vinylidene fluoride copolymer, CTFE-VDF (<15% CTFE), and amorphous fluoropolymers. “Other” in Figure 1.1 includes fluorosilicones, fluorinated polyimides and polyamides, fluorinated acrylic polymers, polyurethanes and amorphous fluoropolymers and others.

Consumption of fluoropolymers, fluorocarbons, inorganics and specialties expected to reach 5.49 million tons by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 4.6% from 2015 to 2024 [11]. Global fluoropolymer market in terms of revenue was at $7.2 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach $9.8 billion by 2018 and to US$11.5 million by 2025. Projections for future growth rate of fluoropolymer consumption are in the annual range of 5.2-5.7%. Global consumption volume is projected to grow from 295 kT (1,000 metric tons) in 2014 to over 380 kT by 2019 [16].

China is the by far the most dominant consumer of PTFE, accounting for about 44% of world consumption in 2015. The United States and China each use about 30% of other fluoropolymers [17]. The historical growth rate of PTFE in China has been around 7.5% per year while the rest of fluoropolymer have grown at a rate of 15%.

Fluoropolymer consumption is relatively small in India. The entire value in 2014 was $100 million, which is expected to $250 by 2022 [18].