From the Sector

HeiQ, winner of the Swiss Technology Award and Swiss Environmental Award, launches HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, an antiviral and antimicrobial textile treatment that is tested effective against coronavirus.

Since its inception 15 years ago, HeiQ has forged a solid innovation track record helping brands improve textile products. Catalyzed to action by the global fight against Coronavirus, HeiQ launches HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, an antiviral and antimicrobial textile treatment which is proven effective against human coronavirus (229E) in face mask testing, significantly enhancing the antiviral log reduction from 2.90 of untreated face masks to 4.48, over 99.99% reduction of virus infectivity. (Remarks: a log reduction of 2 is equivalent to 100 times the effectiveness).

Chinese protective masks producer Suzhou Bolisi is the lead adopter of HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03. Treated masks will be available on the market as early as this April. American legwear manufacturer Kayser-Roth is planning to add the technology to their new product, Ghluv hands protector, while Lufeng from China is evaluating the technology on other types of fabric used for garments.

HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 is a unique combination of vesicle and silver technologies designed to inhibit the growth and persistence of bacteria and viruses. The HeiQ vesicle technology targets lipid- enveloped viruses, such as coronavirus, providing rapid virus deactivation, while the HeiQ silver technology inhibits the replication of both bacteria and viruses. HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 can be applied to a wide spectrum of textile surfaces including face masks, air filters, medical gowns, curtains, drapes and more. HeiQ also has a range of highly wash-durable antimicrobial and odor control textile technologies, called HeiQ Pure, combining silver-based and bio-based materials for all fabric types.

Supporting the industry through innovation and creativity.

The leading denim ingredient brand hosted a special panel to discuss some of the pioneering advancements in technology that are making the fashion industry more responsible: from R-TWOTM to automated laser technology.

With the fashion industry being considered one of the world’s most polluting businesses-sectors, collaborating and knowledge sharing are key in finding solutions for a better future. Fully aware of this scenario, for the second year running, ISKO was the headline sponsor at Drapers Sustainable Fashion Forum, the authoritative event bringing together the most responsible players to discuss what can be done to tackle the industry’s environmental and social issues through innovation and creativity.

Sharing knowledge, collaborating for change.

As evidence of its pioneering Responsible InnovationTM approach, ISKO shared its founding values of creativity, competence and citizenship by showcasing the R-TWOTM program, its latest responsible achievement, in a dedicated stand.

Stemming from the mill’s holistic vision, R-TWOTM represents a great example of how reducing, reusing, and recycling strategies can be implemented in a textile business to improve its environmental performance. With the goal to create fabrics that can provide both quality and responsibility, ISKO has developed this platform, which deals with the most critical issue that apparel supply chains are currently faced with: using more than what actually needed.

A BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY FOR DYEING POLYESTER AND ITS BLENDS

Huntsman Textile Effects introduces TERASIL® BLUE W, the latest addition to our TERASIL® W/WW range of wash fast disperse dyes. TERASIL® Blue W is designed to meet all major requirements for high-performance sportswear and athleisure wear. TERASIL® BLUE W stands out as the leading disperse wash fast blue dye in the market which is not sensitive to reduction, leading to higher reproducibility, right-first-time results and operational excellence.

Polyester fiber has become the fiber of choice in the textile industry, the demand for polyester and man-made fibers is expected to rise over the long term, as sports and athleisure apparel markets expand around the world. At the same time, leading brands, retailers and mills are increasingly focused on achieving brilliant and deep shades, consistent shade reproducibility, as well as water, energy and cost savings.

With cutting-edge disperse dye technology at its heart, TERASIL® BLUE W is developed by Huntsman Textile Effects to provide the leading solution for meeting industry’s wash fastness requirements. TERASIL® BLUE W offers an attractive shade and high build-up for deep blues which stays vibrant. TERASIL® BLUE W also provides quality assurance as products are bluesign® approved and suitable for STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified textile products(1).

Monforts has recently been involved in a number of R&D trials aimed at improving the performance of the fishing cage nets employed in fish farming operations at its Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in Mönchengladbach, Germany.

The cultivation of both freshwater and saltwater fish populations under controlled conditions is a global industry valued at around $200 billion annually and only made possible with the use of huge aquaculture nets.

Biofouling
“These nets are very prone to biofouling and to avoid its negative impacts, high-pressure robotic jets are now used to clean them,” explains Monforts Head of Technical Textiles Jürgen Hanel. “Net cleaning is expensive and can also damage current antifouling coatings on the nets, causing contamination as well as fish health and welfare risks.
The development of more effective antifouling coatings for fishing cage nets has been one aspect of R&D work at the Monforts ATC, while the use of how alternative fibres could potentially be coated or finished to replace the polyamide which is currently most widely used has also been explored.
The issue of plastics and synthetic fibres in the oceans has generated global media attention recently, and the aquaculture industry is exploring all avenues that will lead to more sustainable practices.

Expansions
Since its opening in 2013, over €3 million has been invested in equipment at the Monforts ATC, which over an area of 1,200 square metres houses two full finishing lines, engineered to accommodate an extremely diverse range of processes, in addition to a Thermex range for the continuous dyeing of denim.

Technology transfer that is creating waves

For more than a decade now, the Manmade Fibers segment of the Swiss Oerlikon Group has been hosting a comprehensive technology symposium at the beginning of each year in the Indian region around Silvassa/Daman. Numerous Indian manmade fiber producers have settled in this area, around a four-hour drive north of Mumbai. Fed from Oerlikon polycondensation and extrusion systems, these companies manufacture polyester, nylon and polypropylene on large-scale installations with Oerlikon Barmag WINGS POY, WINGS FDY, IDY and DTY product lines and using Oerlikon Neumag’s staple fiber and BCF technologies. Reason enough for the Manmade Fibers segment’s experts to regularly provide their clientèle with detailed specialist presentations in India on the latest developments of the product and service portfolio.

And this was once again the case at the event held at the beginning of 2020, where around 450 managers and employees from local businesses took the opportunity to exchange ideas and information. For the third time in succession, Oerlikon also entered into dialog with the next generation of managers at major Indian polyester and nylon manufacturers in a separate event hosted in Mumbai beforehand. The technology symposium was again held – for the very first time – just a few days later and in a slightly modified form at a second venue: in Kolkata in West Bengal, a potential second future key location for manufacturing manmade fibers in India according to plans revealed by the Indian government. Here, the discussions held by the Oerlikon experts focused above all on the transfer of technologies for manufacturing polyester, nylon and polypropylene. Oerlikon is able to offer the entire process chain – from the melt to the textured yarn or the fibers and including the necessary semi- and fullyautomated logistics process – from a single source. This is of interest above all for potential new customers and investors in West Bengal and neighboring Bangladesh, as some do not have decades of expertise in manufacturing manmade fibers, as is the case for most companies in the region around Silvassa/Daman.

In the latest technology innovation from members of TMAS (the Swedish textile machinery association), ACG Kinna and ACG Nyström have teamed up with Juki Corporation – the world’s leading sewing machine manufacturer – in the development of a new automated line concept that can considerably speed up the production of finished filter bags.

Woven or nonwoven filter bags employed in a wide range of industrial processes may be under the radar as products, but they represent a pretty significant percentage of technical textiles production.

According to a recent report from BCC research, a leading US analyst covering this sector, industrial filtration represented a $555 million market in 2019 and some of the key areas where such filter bags are employed include:

• Metal fabrication, with effective filtration required for manual and automated welding, thermal cutting, blasting and machining, especially for coolant filtration.
• The process and energy industries, including foundries, smelters, incinerators, asphalt works and energy production plants.
• Other key manufacturing fields – often where dust is generated – including the production of timber, textiles, composites, waste handling and minerals, in addition to chemicals, food production, pharmaceuticals, electronics and agriculture.

Line integration
The new SFL-2000 line is the result of a four-year development project between Juki Central Europe, headquartered in Poland, and the two ACG companies.

It is capable of handling a wide range of different filter media, and as an all-in-one solution, can produce high quality and accurate seams to pre-defined parameters, with optional modules allowing for customised constructions.

The Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment will be presenting itself at the Egy Stitch & Tex 2020 between March 5 and 8, 2020 in Cairo – with a clear focus on the needs of the African market. In Hall 1, Stand B2 The Oerlikon Barmag and Oerlikon Neumag experts will also be showcasing the comprehensive product and service portfolio of the world market leader for manmade fiber systems at the stand of Oerlikon’s representative ATAG Export & Import.

The spotlight of the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment’s trade fair attendance will be on two core technologies: the new generation of Oerlikon Barmag eAFK Evo texturing machines is to be unveiled within the African market for the very first time. It promises higher speeds and productivity with consistently high product quality, along with lower energy consumption and simpler operation vis-à-vis comparable market solutions. In particular, the numerous value-added features include two that convince with cutting-edge technology: the optimized, innovative EvoHeater and the EvoCooler, a completely newly-developed active cooling unit.

The second technology focus offers new opportunities for the Egyptian market and the Middle Eastern markets in particular: with Oerlikon Neumag’s BCF S8 monocolor and tricolor system, the segment will be unveiling its new carpet yarn production flagship. Superlative spinning speeds, up to 700 individual filaments, finer titers of up to 2.5 dpf – the performance data and technological finesse of the new system have already made a huge impression at numerous trade fairs and roadshows over the past year. The tricolor’s core component is the new, patent-pending Color Pop Compacting unit (CPC-T) for even more flexible and more even color separation. With the CPC-T, individually-controllable air pressures for each color provide pre-tangling, which accentuates the colors and hence makes more than 200,000 different shades possible. Whereas it has been very difficult to manufacture strongly color-separated or color-accentuated BCF yarns from polyamide 6 to date, this will in future be possible thanks to the CPC-T system. As a result of the new design, the CPC-T is now also suitable for processes with low yarn tensions.
 
Expanded product offering for manufacturing carpet yarns
Know-how covering all relevant technologies deployed in manmade fiber spinning plants enables Oerlikon – as the world’s only manufacturer – to expand its range of products and services for making carpet yarns. The POY- and texturing-based system concept is designed for a carpet and home textiles segment that demands particularly soft and bulky polyester yarns with BCF-like properties. Here, the aim is to produce yarns with titers of max. 1300dtex and typically more than 1,000 filaments, with typical products including, for example, 1300dtex f1152, 660dtex f1152 and 990dtex f768. The machine concept comprises the well-known WINGS HD POY winder, along with the eAFK Big-V texturing machine.

Dedicated marketing channel to better serve the US market

Huntsman Textile Effects and Xenon arc today announced the formation of NaviColor, a dedicated marketing channel to service the unique needs of select customers in the United States textiles and apparel industry.  

NaviColor is a business specifically designed to meet the needs of select Huntsman Textile Effects customers and to further expand the growing customer base. NaviColor features a dedicated team of professionals in a highly advanced technological environment to support customers utilizing Huntsman’s Textile Effects innovative chemicals, dyes and digital inks in the United States.  

NaviColor is the latest deployment of Xenon arc’s innovative xa-Direct model that helps the world’s preeminent manufacturing companies reach, grow and more effectively service the needs of their customer bases. Leveraging its domain expertise of the marketplace, combined with extensive voice of the customer research and leading-edge technology platform, the xa-Direct model delivers enhanced customer intimacy, valuable insights and improved customer service levels.

“We are excited to partner with Huntsman Textile Effects,” commented Mica Zuniga, Vice President of Strategic Growth for Xenon arc.

NaviColor will exclusively represent Huntsman Textile Effects product portfolio including:

•  Dyes
•  Chemical Auxiliaries
•  Digital Inks

The Oerlikon Nonwoven experts will be presenting efficient solutions and comprehensive technology know-how for challenging filtration tasks to an international trade audience at the FiltXPO 2020 in Chicago, USA (Stand # 420), taking place between February 26 and 28.

Meltblown technology is one of the most efficient methods for producing very fine and highly-separating filter media made from manmade fibers. New, unique and highly-sophisticated filter media are easy to manufacture thanks to Oerlikon Nonwoven’s optimized meltblown technology. This process is characterized by its constant melt pressure distribution and consistent dwell time across the entire width of the spinning beam, Furthermore, the novel guidance and distribution of the process air outside the coathanger distributor offered by the Oerlikon Nonwoven technology prevents so-called hotspots, which overall ensures particularly homogeneous nonwoven properties and basis weights even in the case of delicate raw materials.

The Oerlikon Nonwoven charging unit stands out against other concepts currently available on the market. Users can freely choose from a large number of variation possibilities and set the optimum charging method depending on the filter application, allowing the Oerlikon Nonwoven charging unit to also be used for the manufacture of EPA- and HEPA-class filter media.

The new forming section ensures improved nonwoven formation evenness across the entire width, even in the case of high spinning speeds, special polymers and polymer combinations. In addition to this, the newly-designed system also ensures that nonwovens only require minimal edge trimming at the end of the production process. The newly-developed mixedfiber technology enables the combining of various filament cross-sections and polymers, in order to set ideal filtering and pleating performances, for example.

Peruvian print business delivering DTG capabilities for prestigious apparel brands worldwide

Kornit Digital announced that Textil del Valle South America, a vertically integrated garment manufacturing company based in Peru, has chosen to implement Kornit’s digital direct-to-garment (DTG) printing technology at its 1.1 million-square-foot facility in Lima, Peru.

Textil del Valle services many of the world’s most prominent apparel brands, including global leaders in sports and athleisurewear.

“Kornit’s sustainable print technology provides the last piece of the puzzle, so we have the ‘full package’ for manufacturing the garment itself, imprinting it on demand based on the customer need, and shipping it ourselves, all from a single location,” said Juan Jose Cordova, General Manager at Textil del Valle. “Our market has been veering away from stocking shelves with inventory that may or may not sell, and the Kornit solution helps our business and customers eliminate that uncertainty and risk. We are the most sustainable textile plant in the world, and Kornit enables us to continue answering market demands in an efficient, responsible manner.”