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On June 16, the 13th Techtextil opened the doors to the international trade-fair and congress for technical textiles in Frankfurt. An interesting mix of 1201 companies from 43 countries, up 7.3% compared to 2007, presented the latest in materials, products and services to 23,300 visitors from 85 countries, up 1.9%. In connection to the fair, a number of other events were organized, like the Avantex Congress, the Natural Fibers Congress to celebrate 2009 as the UN International Year of Natural Fibers, and the IWTO, the International Wool Textile Organization congress "Wool-Smart, Natural, Technical."
Focus areas this year were Innovation interchange, Indutech for industrial applications, Hometech, products for home and public areas, Clothtech with functional and protective wear, and finally Medtech, highlighting scaffolds for transplantation among other things.
Winding and Slitting at Bastian
Bastian, a maker of winding and slitting machines for nonwovens, plastics, composite laminates and paper, is expanding its business in China, India and Indonesia. The company specializes in custom tailored machinery for larger and smaller rolls for increased flexibility depending on user requirements. Recently Bastian has measured winding/slitting equipment speeds of 800 mpm on machines as wide as 7.2 meters. The special in-out-line slitting is combined with automated packaging from Jurgens. Bastian also has developed cooperation on packaging, palletizing and labeling machines from ATF.
Meltblown for the Environment
Established in 1994 as a private Czech company, Ecotextil was the first company producing meltblown in Eastern Europe. Today, the company produces meltblown materials, like sorbents for engineering, the environment and accidents with oil spill on seas and lakes. Other segments include industrial facemasks, facemasks for respirators and thermal insulation products. Due to a growing market combined with specialty products that are distributed by third parties, the company has been less impacted by the financial crisis than others.
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Around the World in 28 Days With Edelmann
Slitting of nonwovens has definitely changed during the last few years. It would take only 202 master rolls of nonwoven produced during 28 days to wind the material around the earth! And, a 10 gsm, 3.5-wide nonwoven master roll can hold impressive 198,000 meters, while a 15gsm nonwoven corresponds to "only" 110,000 meters. At Techtextil, Edelman shared results about its In-Line SlitterWinder M640 that has wound and slit a nonwoven roll at 912 mpm. Due to the new process, winding during the start at the core is controlled, resulting in exceptional wind quality from the start. Other capabilities include the simultaneous positioning of all knives with a new slitter-system that allows the set-up time to take up to 30 secodds only, and, due to a clever construction, a minimum slit-width of 35 mm.
P84 Heat Resistance Fibers
Having acquired a unique fiber, Evonik Fibers GmbH in Austria has continued the development of the polyimide fiber P84. The excellent heat resistance properties up to 350[degrees]C fiber make it suitable in protective clothing, industrial filtration, as well as for engines. Due to its spinning process with a round cross-section, followed by solvent evaporation, the fiber obtains different and varied cross sections. More information about polyimide can be found on www.p84.com. Super hydrophobic and super hydrophilic nonwoven from Fibertex
Some recent new product developments from Fibertex presented at Techtextil include fiber acoustics, automotive, geotextiles and filtration. However, the most exciting are the developments in nanotechnology. In this area, Fibertex is cooperating with universities to develop super hydrophobic and permanently super hydrophilic nonwovens for specialty products. Using nano technology for control release products opens new avenues to handle common issues like smell and odor as well as the distribution of medications. In addition, new solutions for high class filters, HEPA 13+ and membranes can be made.
Turkey is the Focus For HASSAN
Hassan, the Turkish group of seven companies and multiple product groups, presented nonwovens for six sectors; specifically automotives, medical wipes, hygiene, construction and furniture and bedding. Specific attention was drawn to needlepunch nonwovens with antistatic properties for insulation of safety shoes. The insulation, which is a needlepunched nonwoven layer with special chemicals on jute, is both PU and abrasion resistant. Breathable cast-film for medical and hygiene products is another area of particular interest for the Hassan group.
Nano Islands-in-the-Sea From Hills Inc.
Hills Inc. is one of the companies making it possible to spin nano fibers by using special design spinnerets. For example, one fiber can contain 150,000 islands-in-the-sea fibrils, each at a diameter of approximately 30 nanometers. A logo fiber, with 60,000 pixels in the cross section of the fiber, holds a logo that can only be seen with a microscope or magnifying glass.
Hansel--New Solutions To Old Problems
Hansel Textile Group supports textile fabrics based on three new concepts, namely interlinings, lamination and adhesives. Especially in the adhesives company, technical and leather products are laminated for stabilization and antistatic properties of shoes and workwear. Special emphasis has been demonstrated on shoe protection with flexible, lightweight, thin and extremely strong soles, almost like steel, for working shoes.
Heavyweight Polyester Spunbond for Filtration
"Heavyweight" Polyester Spunbond Filtration Media was one of the new developments Johns Manville presented at Techtextil. The filtration media targets industrial air filtration that requires high stiffness and stability, while providing excellent filtration performance. The second innovative material, B-stage Melamine Glass Fiber Nonwoven, can be applied to engineered wood materials and cured under heat and pressure. The nonwoven provides high flexural strength and E-modulus but also fire resistance and abrasion and scratch resistance, as well as printing properties.
Innovation Lenzing's Landmark
Innovation seems to be landmark for Lenzing. In time for Techtextil, information about TencelWeb and the new Tencel Powder was announced. TencelWeb is a 100% cellulose meltblown fabric that will be further developed in cooperation with Weyerhaeuser. A pilot plant to further explore the potential of Tencel has been built in Lenzing, Austria. Furthermore, due to its exceptional properties in moisture management, will be used in mattresses made by polyurethane foam for hygienic, dry and comfortable sleep. The potential for Tencel Powder continues to be developed in many more applications.
NSC Nonwoven
IsoProDyn and Isoprofile are major innovations to provide even physical properties to crosslaid nonwovens, a feature especially important in crosslaid nonwovens with high demand for MD/CD evenness. Without reduced production throughput they can be used for geotextiles, automotive nonwovens and even spunlaced materials as low as 40gsm. On rolls produced in multiple widths, the benefits are outstanding and end users can finally expect to obtain the same physical performances from every roll delivered.
With great interest for line upgrades, the IsoProfile crosslapper offers weight profiling solutions with high efficiency, especially when light nonwovens are being processed with high draft. Consequently, significant cost reduction is generated.
The new Excelle card concept from NSC features a unique Air Management system, which provides not only the desired increasingly even fiber weight distribution, it also keeps the card clean longer, is easier to clean and makes the operation more efficient.
New Branding, New Products at PGI
Fresh, new color branding is characterizing for the four PGI divisions. The colors represent the industrial segments: blue for hygiene, yellow for medical, red for wipes and green for industrial products. In the industrial segment, presented at Techtextil, filtration, building, industrial composites and consumer technical products can be found. The company has specifically developed a complete range of new products for air filtration, LineAir, with HEPA and high temperature filters, in addition to filter bags, filter mats and a range of other products, all combined with a building distribution network.
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Easy-to-install JETlace
The success of JETlace Advantage from Rieter continues, and China has been the most recent market to install such a line for hygiene products and wipes. Furthermore, Rieter has developed a customized version of the JETlace 3000 for medical/surgical nonwovens, and JETlace Essentiel for wipes. Recently, the most compact machine, JETlace CottonPad, has been designed with ready-made parts, for quick assembly, in one container. The result is a user friendly, easy-to-install and less energy-consuming machine that can be delivered quickly and efficiently responding to market needs for environment and speed to market.
130 Years Sandler
Recently, Sandler celebrated its 130th anniversary. Throughout the times, the company has continued its expansion in new technologies and a wide range of products like automotive, illtration, building, hygiene, wipes and medical applications. Specifically new at Techtextil were functional automotive materials such as sawasorb exterior, which is resistant to aggressive fluids at high temperatures, i.e. up to 200[degrees]C in the engine compartment and HVAC air filtration materials made by meltblown and mechanical bonding technologies. Most interesting was the new building concept material for walls. Here isolating materials such as glass fiber wool, foam or Styrofoam can be replaced with the heat insulation nonwoven sawatec made of 100% PET. The textile material ensures optimal air circulation, preventing a gathering of moisture and the growing of mold. For exterior applications, a sawascreen thermoplastic polymer is applied as textile wallpaper for facade renovations and Saddler's sawaloom material is utilized as insulating wallpaper in the interior.
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