From the Sector

International technology group ANDRITZ has successfully delivered, installed, and commissioned a converting line for manufacturing baby diapers at Naturopera’s new plant in Bully Les Mines, France.

The eXcelle converting line from ANDRITZ Diatec features special technology to produce both traditional and bio-based baby diapers, supporting Naturopera in its efforts to become a leading producer of a new generation of sustainable diapers.

While most diapers available on the market consist of 70% fossil-based plastic, Naturopera is preparing to produce diapers made of 90% bio-based raw materials. This groundbreaking diaper concept was developed in a close collaboration between Naturopera and ANDRITZ. It replaces the traditional spunbond and meltblown nonwoven layers with spunlace nonwovens mostly made of natural fibers. A prototype of the 90% bio-based diaper was recently produced at Bully Les Mines.

The ANDRITZ converting machine operating at Naturopera is highly flexible, taking just a few settings to switch to the production of bio-based diapers. It is designed for a multiple-size process, features an operator-friendly interface, and guarantees a production speed of 800 ppm.

Naturopera is a French company producing baby care, femcare and household products with a strong focus on local production and sustainability.

• Sustainable infrastructure solutions, road safety and health protection

At this year’s Techtextil, Oerlikon Polymer Processing Solutions will be presenting the trade audience with new applications, special processes and sustainable solutions focusing on the production of industrial textiles. Among other things, the company will be showcasing new technology for charging nonwovens that sets new standards with regards to quality and efficiency. Between June 21 and 24, the discussions will be concentrating on airbags, seat belts, tire cord, geotextiles, filter nonwovens and their diverse applications.

More polyester for airbags
Airbags have become an integral part of our everyday automotive lives. The yarns used in them are made predominantly from polyamide. As a result of increasingly diverse airbag applications and also the increasing size of the systems used, polyester is today used as well, depending on the application requirements and cost-benefit considerations. Against this background, the Oerlikon Barmag technologies make an invaluable contribution. In addition to high productivity and low energy consumption, they particularly excel in terms of their stable production processes. Furthermore, they comply with every high quality standard for airbags, which – as in the case of virtually all other textile products used in vehicle construction – must provide the highest level of safety for vehicle occupants. And all this without any loss of function in any climate and anywhere in the world for the lifetime of the vehicle.

Buckle up!
Seat belts play a decisive role in protecting vehicle occupants. They have to withstand tensile forces in excess of three tons and simultaneously stretch in a controlled manner in emergencies in order to reduce the load in the event of impact. A seat belt comprises approximately 300 filament yarns, whose individual, high-tenacity yarn threads are spun from around 100 individual filaments.

Invisible, but essential – road reinforcement using geotextiles
But it not just inside vehicles, but also under them, that industrial yarns reveal their strengths. Low stretch, ultra-high tenacity, high rigidity – industrial yarns offer outstanding properties for the demanding tasks carried out by geotextiles; for instance, as geogrids in the base course system under asphalt. Normally, geotextiles have extremely high yarn titers of up to 24,000 denier. Oerlikon Barmag system concepts simultaneously manufacture three filament yarns of 6,000 denier each. Due to the high spinning titers, fewer yarns can be plied together to the required geo-yarn titer in a more cost- and energy-efficient manner.

hycuTEC – technological quantum leap for filter media
In the case of its hycuTEC hydro-charging solution, Oerlikon Neumag offers a new technology for charging nonwovens that increases filter efficiency to more than 99.99%. For meltblown producers, this means material savings of 30% with significantly superior filter performance. For end users, the consequence is noticeably improved comfort resulting from significantly reduced breathing resistance. With its considerably lower water and energy consumption, this new development is also a future-proof, sustainable technology.

New high-tech Staple Fiber Technology Center
Extending to around 2,100 m2, Oerlikon Neumag in Neumünster is home to one of the world’s largest staple fiber technology centers. As of now, these state-of-the-art staple fiber technologies are also available for customer-specific trials.

The focus during the planning and the design of the Technology Center was on optimizing components and processes. Here, special attention was paid to ensuring the process and production parameters in the Technology Center system could be simply and reliably transferred to production systems. Here, the fiber tape processing line is modular in design. All components can be combined with each other as required. And comprehensive set-up options supply detailed findings for the respective process for various fiber products.

The Technology Center is also equipped with two spinning positions for mono- and bi-component processes. The same round spin packs are used for both processes, characterized by excellent fiber quality and properties and meanwhile very successfully deployed in all Oerlikon Neumag production systems. Furthermore, the spinning plant is complemented by automation solutions such as spin pack scraper robots, for example.

SABIC has announced that the newly formed Hygiene & Healthcare segment of its Petrochemicals business will showcase its extensive portfolio of SABIC PURECARES™ polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) polymers for high-purity nonwovens and hygiene films at the upcoming INDEX™ Expo in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 19 through 22, 2021. The company will also present enabling solutions developed with partners to address the issue of plastic waste and support the transformation of the industry towards a circular economy with closed-loop initiatives and certified circular polymers under its TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services.

During INDEX, SABIC will exhibit a wide range of PP polymers targeted at these needs. Highlights on display will include dedicated PP and PE grades for lightweight nonwoven fabrics using the latest spunbond and meltblown processes, and a new ultra-high melt flow PP product engineered for meltblown fibers in nonwoven fabrics. The nonwoven focus will be complemented by industry proven polyolefins for cast and blown film applications in hygiene webs and laminates, providing desirable back and top sheet properties such as water tightness, breathability and elasticity.

In addition, SABIC will also present ISCC Plus certified fiber and film polymers based on circular and renewable PP and PE polymer technology as part of the company’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio for advancing the transformation of the plastics industry from a linear to a truly circular economy. Examples of this comprehensive initiative include collaborations with various market leaders in the field. Together with Fibertex Personal Care, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of spunbond nonwovens for the hygiene industry, SABIC is creating a range of high-purity nonwovens for the hygiene market using ISCC PLUS certified circular PP polymer derived from post-consumer plastic waste. In another project, Fraunhofer Institute, SABIC and Procter & Gamble (P&G) joined forces to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of an advanced close-loop recycling process for used nonwoven facemasks.

RadiciGroup presents their vision on sustainability at INDEX on the 20th of October at 4pm.

RadiciGroup has been manufacturing polypropylene spunbond for almost 30 years with its well-known brand dylar®. Today the Group adds to its offer Respunsible®, a new sustainable spunbond obtained from recycled polypropylene and RadimeltTM, the brand for meltblown nonwovens and composite nonwovens.