From the Sector

The American company WPT Nonwovens invests in a new thermobonding line for filter media. Trützschler Nonwovens teamed up with Schott & Meissner to deliver a state-of-the-art, high-capacity line including the T-BLEND fiber preparation system, two TWF-NC roller cards and Schott&Meissner’s high-speed “Speedliner” belt oven.

Air conditioning systems are not only an integral part of many buildings all over the world. They are vital components in cars, trucks, planes and other. Home and Vehicle Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems often rely on thermo- or through-air bonded nonwovens for air filtering.

WPT Nonwovens is a specialist not only for filtration media but also for nonwovens used in the medical, hygiene and industrial sectors. The US-based company started its business in 2008 and quickly became a trusted supplier of spunbonded, needle-punched, wet-laid and carded nonwovens.

To enable further growth, WPT Nonwovens now decided to invest in a new through-air bonding line. The Trützschler machinery has been selected to ensure reliable fiber preparation and web forming processes for various special, technically demanding filtration media.

The start-up of the through-air bonding line is planned for the 3rd quarter 2023.

Trützschler Man-Made Fibers introduces OPTIMA for IDY and expands the range of the OPTIMA extrusion systems by the industrial yarn (IDY) sector. In addition to OPTIMA for carpet yarns (MO40-C, MO40-E and TO40), variants for manufacturing (semi-)industrial multifilament yarns are now joining the line.

Since 2012, Trützschler has been developing and building high-performance extrusion lines for carpet yarns (BCF - Bulk Continuous Filament) and industrial/technical yarns made of polyester, polyamide and polypropylene. The market launch of the OPTIMA concept for BCF took place in 2019 and has established itself in the markets since then. OPTIMA was designed as a modular platform and now also includes solutions in the IDY (InDustrial Yarn) sector.

OPTIMA systems for industrial yarn (TEC-O40 and TEC-O80) impress with flexibility application and end product diversity. Both concepts offer a wide range of design options and can be tailored precisely to meet end product and the throughput requirements.

OPTIMA enables the production of high-tenacity yarns for shoelaces, ropes and nets as well as low-shrinkage qualities for tire cords, truck tarpaulins and airbags. As the lines are modular, they can be quickly adapted to new market developments and end products.

The first Carded/Pulp line at Ecowipes is a constant success due to surging end product demand from international markets. To spur the company’s growth Trützschler Nonwovens and Voith will supply the second CP Line to the Polish producer.

The carded/pulp technology by Trützschler and Voith delivers both performance and top-quality products. Voith’s BlueLine stock preparation equipment and cylinder mould FloatLip former processes paper-grade pulp, the cost-effective raw material for the paper industry. It delivers an extremely homogeneous wet-laid web. The NCT high-speed card, supplied by Trützschler Nonwovens, lays a light-weight layer of viscose or lyocell fibers on top of it. This configuration allows for a precise layering and an efficient dewatering. Trützschler’s AquaJet entangles both layers into an inseparable composite nonwoven with superior functionality. A multi-drum dryer and a powerful winder complete the production line which allows for productions speeds up to 300 m/min.

Ecowipes recipe for success is a market high pulp content in the wipe material thus bringing down production costs significantly. For optimising its production processes, Ecowipes relies on digital solutions delivered especially for the old and the new Trützschler/Voith line.

• At this year’s INDEX from October 19th to October 22nd, Truetzschler Nonwovens, Truetzschler Card Clothing and Voith introduce new solutions for manufacturing a broad range of sustainable nonwovens for wipes, hygiene or medical textiles at booth 2327.

Plastic-free initiatives worldwide affect everyone: consumers, product developers, nonwoven producers and finally nonwoven machinery suppliers.

Truetzschler Nonwovens and Voith address the quest for more sustainable and affordable nonwovens in the wipes segment by two proven technologies for manufacturing pulp-based nonwovens. Firstly, WLS (Wet-Laid/Spunlaced) lines. More than a handful are in service worldwide and mainly target the flushable wipes market. At INDEX we’ll introduce our latest nextLevel/WLS baby and body wipes, a joint development by Voith and Truetzschler.

The second focus is on carded/pulp (CP) products. A CP line – including a TWF-NCT card placed between the HydroFormer and the AquaJet is already running to full capacity at customer site. Various CP materials, including innovative nextLevel/CP wipes, will be on display at the booth and invite visitors to discuss characteristics, benefits, line concepts and equipment.

When talking sustainable nonwovens, solutions for efficiently manufacturing biodegradable nonwovens from virgin cotton fibers, comber noils and viscose/lyocell fibers must not be missing. Visitors can look forward to directly comparing cotton nonwovens to a broad range of cellulose-based material.

Truetzschler Card Clothing, our in-house competence center with respect to card clothings and comprehensive service, presents its latest development, the Z wire for high-speed roller cards. A new geometry minimizes fiber fly and allows for better carding and more stable web forming.