Latest News
Fluxys LNG Belgium offer a glowing report of FTI’s FibaShield performance
Released on 25th October 2019
GATE LNG praises FTI’s pre-insulated piping – FibaShield
Released on 12th September 2019
FTI Group has announced that, during eight years of service on the edge of the North Sea, GATE LNG, a joint venture (JV) between Vopak and Gasunie, claims FibaShield pre-insulated pipes have performed flawlessly.
The operator recently said: “The pre-insulated piping lines are as delivered having not required any maintenance” over the entire period. He further credits FibaShield with contributing to “the very low boil-off and low overall operating costs of the terminal.”
According to the statement, GATE LNG was the first of three LNG import terminals built by the TSEV main contractor in Northern Europe. After the success at GATE, TSEV used FibaShield in the two other LNG import terminals: Zeebrugge and Dunkerque.
Project director for GATE LNG, Guido Piazzoli of TSEV, said: “We were happy to have taken the decision to use FibaShield to pre-insulate the jetty and rundown lines. My only regret was that we could have pre-insulated more. But even so, adopting pre-insulation greatly helped in bringing the project in on time and within budget.”
Fluxys, the operators of Zeebrugge and Dunkerque, have also expressed their satisfaction with the FibaShield system by specifying it for their upcoming JV project with Novatek to be built in Germany.
The Sky’s the Limit – FTI are proud to announce they are certified to AS9100
Released on 20th April 2019
AS9100 is an aerospace standard based on the ISO 9001 quality system requirements. AS9100 takes the ISO 9001 requirements and supplements them with additional quality system requirements. Whilst continuing with Oil & Gas markets, FTI have diversified into Rail & Aerospace by using their 20+ yrs. experience in SMC production to introduce fast curing, fully aerospace compatible products to the Aerospace market.
Focusing on cabin interior applications, FTI are supplying prepreg to make seat backs, destined for planes built by Airbus and are involved in testing with various tier one moulders that supply millions of square metres of phenolics per year to the industry.
FTI Shanghai to Exhibit at LNG Shanghai 2019
Released on 20th March 2019
FTI Shanghai’s exhibit at LNG Shanghai 2019 will run from the 2nd to 4th April 2019. Please join us at the exhibition at Stand 4233 where Howard YU, Neil Smallwood & partners will be showcasing the benefits of pre-insulation and other products available in China. FTI Shanghai was set up in October 2019 to meet the increasing demand for FTI’s pre-insulation system for the LNG market in China.
FTI’s Carbon Re-Inforced Prepreg used by JEC Winner
Released on 20th March 2019
FTI supported a current winner of the JEC innovation awards for the 2019 event in Paris. FTI developed and supplied a carbon reinforced phenolic prepreg. The reason why Cecence chose this system was because of a cure speed of <5 minutes and a free formaldehyde level of <0.01%. With FTI materials Cecence have created the first lightweight, all composite aerospace seat, qualified for line-fit at Airbus.
Article by Neil Smallwood on the Pros of Pre-Insulation for the Oil and Gas Industry
Released on 11th September 2018
Pre-insulation of LNG rundown lines has been widely practised since the 1980s because of the benefits to construction in terms of health and safety, schedule, cost, and quality. In operation, the reduced incidence of joints….
FTI’s first phenolic SMC
Released September 8th 2018
Up to 3 x stronger than a polyester SMC. Passes EN 45545 HL3 & BS 6853. More damage-tolerant than aluminium. Meet us on the SMT stand 301 in Halle 1.1 at Innotrans Sep 18 – Sep 21, 2018 Berlin, Germany!
High strength to weight ratio phenolic SMC
Released on August 22nd 2018
FTI’s innovative new phenolic SMC material, FibaRoll HS SMC, with 50% glass content, has been custom-developed for strength. As a result, GRP components made from FibaRoll HS SMC have a greater strength to weight ratio for rolling stock interiors. It can be manufactured stronger yet thinner and therefore lighter in weight. More than 2X the strength to weight ratio of polyester SMCs. In tests, our latest SMC also shows significantly increased damage tolerance over aluminium.
FibaRoll HS SMC exceeds the most stringent London Underground FST requirements. It moulds in minutes and delivers the most cost effective, lightweight solution for the mass transit market.
New braking system with lightweight components in development
Released on August 11th 2018
The Full Stop consortium, led by Freeman Automotive and including FTI, Exeter University, Bentley, Dyson, Caterham, Hexion and Emerald, has been awarded an innovate UK grant to design and build a new lightweight braking system.
FTI’s latest advances in high temperature-tolerant composite materials will help deliver a foundation braking system (callipers/discs and pads) with a 60% weight saving, whilst still performing to the highest rating for these safety-critical components. The project is part of the acceleration toward zero emission vehicles. Working closely with Exeter University and other group members, FTI will tailor some of its existing FibaRoll PH ZF products to meet the project objectives. FibaRoll PH ZF pre-pregs & SMCs are typically used for lightweight components in aerospace and London Underground.
FTI’s Phenolic SMC right on track
Released on August 10th 2018
FTI is working closely with Datum Composites, a major tier 1 supplier to rolling stock builders in the UK. M.D. David Taylor recognised that, by introducing FTI’s fast curing phenolic SMC taking just 5 mins to mould @135⁰C, Datum could be in an even better position to handle high volume work. FTI’s SMC is produced with an excellent finish and is significantly faster and more cost effective than hand lay.
FTI and Cecence in lightweight carbon prepreg first for the aerospace industry
Released on 9th August 2018
Cecence and FTI have specifically engineered and co-developed a snap cure, carbon reinforced prepreg, ‘CePregPH’, which is 15% lighter than existing materials and produced faster and safer with outstanding structural integrity ……….
FTI’s FibaClad installed on the Johan Sverdrup Project 2018
Released on 7th May 2018
On Statoil / Equinor’s giant Johan Sverdrup project off the Norwegian continental shelf, FTI’s FibaClad was selected as the preferred system in the GRP insulation cladding specification because of FTI’s twenty-year history of producing consistent….
2017 Composites Industry Awards Winner For Material Innovation
Released on 1st November 2017
On the 1st of November Composites UK revealed the winners of its industry awards at the annual prestigious black-tie dinner held at the National Motorcycle Museum. Ten awards in all were given out on the evening, with FTI Group….
FTI Group nominated in 2017 Composites Industry Awards Shortlist For Material Innovation
Released on 2nd October 2017
Composites UK has revealed its shortlist for the 2017 composites industry awards, which will be presented at the annual awards dinner on 1st November at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, coinciding with the Advanced…….
FibaRoll™ PH SMC – meeting the highest fire, smoke and toxicity standards
Released on 8th September 2017
Utilising over twenty years’ experience in SMC manufacture, FTI has now employed a phenolic resin to create a fast-curing, London Underground-certified Phenolic SMC. With excellent FST characteristics, FibaRoll PH SMC brings quality and high productivity to composite components for rail interiors.
FTI announces industry’s first mechanical guarantee for cladding!
Released August 16th 2016
With traditional metal cladding systems, damage is highly likely during construction and through the service lifetime of the product. This compromises the cladding system, allowing water ingress and then subsequent corrosion under insulation (CUI) issues. Alternative soft, non-metallic cladding systems offer little mechanical protection………
FTI launches revolutionary phenolic prepreg – FibaRoll PH™
Released August 8th 2016
Traditional phenolic prepregs are slow to cure, hard to store and require substantial post finishing. But new FibaRoll PH, developed specifically for the aerospace and rail industries, cures in under ten minutes at 130°C in a press, can be stored in ambient conditions for three months and requires very little repair before finishing.