Synthetic Fiber Raw Material

Affordability
Synthetic fibers are very versatile and affordable materials. They are very cheap to produce and have fantastic properties compared to natural fibers. Synthetic fibers have conquered the world and are found in many applications today. One of the most successful synthetic fibers is polyester.
Durability
Synthetic fibers are considered more durable than natural fibers. Most thermoplastic polymers contain different crystalline structures from petroleum-based plastics. Synthetic fibers can have very high density, tensile strength, resilience, and durability. They have good abrasion and chemical resistance with advantageous physical and mechanical properties. They also resist cuts, ripping, and tearing.
Elasticity
Synthetic fibers are strong, elastic, and lightweight. The stretching of polymer chains causes fibers to extend then return to their original size and shape. Synthetic fibers are very elastic materials and become easier to stretch over time. They have internal resistance to deformation under an applied load.
Colorfastness
Synthetic fibers are more colorfast than natural fibers. Manufacturers can easily dye synthetic fibers in many brilliant colors. The dyeing of artificial textile materials also resists fading. Fabrics made from synthetic fibers have a strong binding force between dye and the fibers. They can resist running and maintain bright colors under washing, exposure to sunlight, moisture, wear and tear.
Wrinkle Resistance
Synthetic fibers have good wrinkle resistance. While natural fibers wrinkle easily, artificial fabrics are lightweight, durable, and resistant to abrasion, wrinkles, and creases. Synthetic fibers stay wrinkle-free much longer than natural fibers. They have high flexibility, which makes them maintain smoothness over long periods.
Heat Resistance
Synthetic fibers capture heat well and are highly resistant to sunlight and UV degradation. They can resist high temperatures without showing substantial damage.
Water Resistance
Synthetic fibers resist hot and humid weather very well. They have high water resistance, can even be water repellant or waterproof, and are quick-drying, unlike many natural fibers such as cotton or wool. Synthetic fabrics are ideal for staying dry and protected from humidity. They endure water splashes and even moving through the water much better than natural fabrics.
Moth Resistance
Unlike most natural fibers, synthetic fibers are resistant to attacks from moths, mildew, bacteria, molds, insects, fungi, and many everyday chemicals.

Chemical compounds which serve as raw materials for synthetic fibres do not possess the fibre-forming property until they first undergo a chemical reaction called polymerization. To polymerize is to change a chemical compound, by union of two or more molecules of the same kind, into a higher molecular weight compound having different physical properties. The product of the reaction is called polymer.
Polymers of low or average molecular weight cannot be made into commercially usable fibres; rather, the fibre-forming polymers consist of molecules of very high molecular weight, often called “macromolecules.” How such large molecules can be built up is generally explained by the theory that monomer (single) molecules are joined together in long chains. Thus it can be said that in the first step in fibre output polymers with long chain link molecules are synthesized.
Before it becomes a polymer a chemical intermediated is a monomer, the term for the simple non polymerized form of a compound. Thus it can also be said that the first step in synthetic-fibre manufacture is to make polymers out of monomeric raw materials.
In the manufacturing plants there is an area, usually designated the “polymer area, in which the conversion is carried out as a batch or as a continuous process. Quantities of the monomeric raw materials are fed into polymerization reactors under pressure, temperature and duration conditions which vary with the monomers.

Three spinning technologies are used to make filaments from synthetic polymers: dry spinning, wet spinning, and melt spinning. In all these methods filaments are formed by forcing a viscous polymer through a spinneret, a small die like plate with many fine holes. In the preparation of the polymer for spinning and in the solidification of the newly formed filaments the spinning methods differ in detail.
Dry Spinning
In dry spinning the polymer is dissolved in an organic solvent to form a spinning solution which is extruded through a spinneret into a long tubular spinning cell through which hot air is circulated. The filaments are solidified by the evaporation of the solvent.
Wet Spinning
For wet spinning a solution is prepared in the same way, but it is extruded through a spinneret into a spinning bath capable of coagulating the filaments.
Melt Spinning
In the production of synthetic fibres which can be “melt” spun the preparation of a spinning solution is unnecessary. Molten polymer is forced through the holes in the spinneret by pump action, and the filaments solidify upon contact with a stream of cold air.

After the polymers are spun, the process steps depend on the output mix of the fibre plant. In the production units under consideration here man-made fibres are produced in three different forms for sale to the textile industry – as continuous filament yarn, as staple fibre, or as tow. Synthetic filament yarn consists of a number of fine continuous filaments. For sale to ultimate users it is put up on bobbins with no twist or a light twist. Staple fibre is made by cutting up the continuous filaments into short lengths and is sold in bales to the textile industry for the manufacture of spun yarn.
Spun yarn can also be made from tow, the third form in which synthetic fibres are sold. Textile spinners with traditional spinning equipment must use staple fibre in spun-yarn manufacture. Tow is a collection of many parallel continuous filaments, grouped together in ropelike form and put up into packages without twist. It is sold to manufacturers who have special machines designed for the direct production of spun yarn from tow. The tow is mechanically broken up into short lengths, and the yarn is prepared by methods which eliminate many of the steps in the staple-to-yarn process.