Irkutsk scientists propose creating a full optical fiber production cycle in the Angara region, from local quartz raw material to finished products. The project should reduce import dependence and ensure fiber with a longer service life and stable characteristics. A site has already been chosen for pilot production, and investment is estimated at about 400 million rubles.

According to the head of the Department of Innovative Technologies at IrSTU, Viktor Kondratyev, the implementation of the project will make it possible to eliminate import dependence on foreign materials, since we have our own raw material in the Irkutsk Region — quartz. The bulk of the production of high-purity quartz granules, the main material used in the production of optical fiber, is concentrated in the United States, Japan, and China. The factors limiting the development of spherical quartz granule production are the shortage of high-purity quartz deposits and the closed and inaccessible nature of high-purity raw material grinding technologies, which are the “know-how” of manufacturing companies. The Irkutsk Region has several vein quartz deposits. At the same time, a comparative analysis of the chemical composition of quartz from some local deposits makes it possible to speak of uniquely low impurity contents. We offer cost-effective quartz further purification technologies that make it possible to achieve purity comparable to global analogues. High-purity quartz concentrate can be used to produce support and jacket tubes, which are blanks for drawing optical fiber. The result of the work should be the creation of a full-cycle production facility: from raw materials to the finished product.
Irkutsk scientists state that the fibers they have obtained will have an extended service life and more stable quality characteristics during operation.
The declared amount of investment costs for the project is about 400 million rubles. According to preliminary forecasts by the scientists, by 2020 about 2 million kilometers of optical fiber can be produced in the Angara Region. At the same time, sales volume in 2020 should exceed 1 billion rubles. D. Bogdanovich claims that the idea fully corresponds to current trends in state policy aimed at investing funds in self-sustaining infrastructure projects.
The site for the pilot production will be an Irkutsk company that is among the largest Russian organizations involved in the creation of communication lines — LLC BaikalSvyazEnergoStroy. The university has had three years of cooperation with this enterprise in the study of material properties, including nanomodifiers for construction materials.
As is known, fiber-optic communication lines (FOCL) are currently the most effective way to transmit large volumes of information over long distances. For example, information exchange between continents is carried out mainly through submarine fiber-optic cables rather than via satellite communications. The volume of transmitted information is growing every year, which creates a constant need to increase channel capacity and lay new lines. The main producers and suppliers of optical fiber on the global market are companies from the United States, Japan, South Korea, Italy, the Netherlands, and others. Global production of optical fibers currently amounts to 60 million km/year. However, optical fiber is not produced in Russia.
Based on materials from the IrSTU press service