Process equipment · Solena Materials, 2023–2024
Godet Drives for a Protein-Fiber Wet-Spinning Line
- At a glance
- Prototyped three-stage godet duo assemblies for a pilot wet-spinning line that turns computationally designed protein into biodegradable textile fiber.
- Methods
- Mechanical design and CAD, single-reduction gear transmissions, stepper-motor drives, enclosure design, prototyping and line integration
What?
Solena Materials is a London startup making biodegradable textile fibers from computationally designed proteins. The fiber is produced by wet spinning: a protein solution is extruded into a coagulation bath, and the forming filament is then pulled over a series of godets, pairs of driven rollers whose speeds set how much the fiber is drawn at each stage.
As a mechanical engineer on the team, I worked on the process equipment for the wet-spinning line, focused on the godet stages.
How?
I prototyped godet duo assemblies for a three-stage draw. Each duo pairs two rollers driven by a stepper motor through a single-reduction gear transmission, so the speed of each stage can be set independently. The difference in speed between stages controls the draw ratio, which strongly shapes the fiber's mechanical properties.
The drive layout was worked out on open-frame prototypes before moving into enclosed units sized to sit on the line, with the motor drive and electronics housed in the back of each enclosure.
Result
The godet duos were installed on the pilot line and used to optimize the wet-spinning process against two fiber targets: elongation at break and linear mass density.
Process parameters and fiber data are confidential and not shown here.