From the Sector

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the worldwide demand for protective masks and apparel has resulted in a record number of new orders in the high double-digit millions of euros at Oerlikon Nonwoven. The meltblown technology from Neumünster is recognized by the market as being one of the technically most efficient methods for producing highly-separating filter media made from plastic fibers.

Protective equipment demands high-end nonwoven products
The rising demand for protective masks and other medical protective equipment since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the associated global ramping up of production capacities has also resulted in an increase in the demand for nonwovens for the production thereof. Initially, this resulted in bottlenecks in the provision of meltblown filter nonwovens. To this end, there had until this point be very few producers of medical filter nonwovens outside China. Meanwhile, the demand for spunbond systems is also rising. “Due to the structure of our group, we are in the fortunate position to swiftly reallocate and free up our production capacities. This means that we are able to relatively quickly deliver not only meltblown systems, but also spunbond equipment”, explains Dr. Ingo Mählmann, Head of Sales & Marketing at Oerlikon Nonwoven, talking about the positive situation at the company.

The capacities for respiratory masks available in Europe to date are predominantly manufactured on Oerlikon Nonwoven systems. “Our machines and systems for manufacturing manmade fiber and nonwovens solutions enjoy an outstanding reputation throughout the world. Ever more manufacturers in the most diverse countries are hoping to become independent of imports”, comments Dr. Mählmann. The Oerlikon Nonwoven meltblown systems are being delivered to Germany, China, Turkey, United Kingdom, South Korea, Italy, France, North America and – for the very first time – to Australia until well into 2021.

Quality and efficiency in demand
Depending on the purpose of the application, medical PPE (personal protection equipment) should be breathable and comfortable to wear, protect medical staff against viruses, bacteria and other harmful substances and form a barrier against liquids. For these reasons, they are often made of either pure spunbond or of spunbond-meltblown combinations. Here, the meltblown nonwoven core assumes the barrier or filter task, while the spunbond has to retain its shape, while being tear-resistant, abrasion-proof, absorbent, particularly flame-resistant and nevertheless extremely soft on the skin.

All masks are not created equal – thanks to the ecuTEC+
Protection against infections such as coronavirus can only be guaranteed with the right quality.

The nonwovens can be electrostatically-charged in order to further improve the filter performance without additionally increasing breathing resistance. Here, Oerlikon Nonwovenʼs patented ecuTEC+ electro-charging unit excels in terms of its extreme flexibility. Nonwovens manufacturers can freely choose between numerous variation options and set the optimal charging method and intensity for their specific applications. In this way, even the smallest particles are still attracted and reliable separated by a relatively open-pored nonwoven. Nevertheless, mask wearers are still able to easily breathe in and out due to the comparatively loose formation of the fibers. To this end, it comes as no surprise that all meltblown systems currently destined for the production of mask nonwovens are equipped with the ecuTEC+ unit.

At first glance, rowing boats, the Airbus 380, safety equipment and stadium roofing have very little on common. They receive their specific properties as a result of the use of special fibers, among other things: aramid fibers and carbon fibers are processed into special yarns that are frequently deployed as compound materials. These fibers are growing in demand as the world seeks to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels; new solutions are required to reduce weight and replace heavy metallic parts.

Aramid fibers are produced in a highly-chemical process that is extremely aggressive; the acrylic precursor used to manufacture carbon fibers is a different process, but again no less difficult. In these sophisticated processes, the gear metering pumps are not only responsible for the high-precision control of the melt transport; durability, resistance within aggressive environments and cost efficiency also play decisive roles.

Special materials for special tasks
The process, the expected pump lifespan and the maintenance frequency are the decisive factors for choosing the materials from which the pumps and their components are manufactured. For optimum results, Oerlikon Barmag offers solutions that intelligently combine the various materials and the latest technologies. Whether in the case of surfaces with ceramic coatings, gears and shafts featuring DLC coatings, pumps made from cobalt alloys (StelliteTM) or robust and durable Oerlikon Barmag hybrid constructions comprising zirconium oxide ceramic and duplex stainless steel – the high-precision ZP- and GM-series pumps are design-optimized depending on the intended use. Various seal systems and customized drive concepts round off the pump program.

• On October, 20th, 2020, the State Prize for Innovation was awarded to the Lenzing Group for their LENZING™ Web Technology.
• Lenzing thus received the highest award for particularly innovative achievements in Austria.

Lenzing – On Tuesday, October 20, 2020, the Lenzing Group was awarded the coveted “State Prize for Innovation”. Lenzing emerged as the winner with its project LENZING™ Web Technology and thus received the highest recognition for particularly innovative achievements in Austria. The novel process combines fiber and nonwovens production in only one step, setting new standards in terms of efficiency, circularity and ecological sustainability. Margarete Schramböck, Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, presented the award to Gert Kroner, Vice President Global Research & Development.

“This award is a great recognition of our work. Our goal is to grow continuously with sustainable innovations and to look beyond our fibers, to the needs of our customers and partners and to the needs of consumers worldwide. With the LENZING™ Web Technology we have created an exciting and promising solution for eco-friendly products in line with our corporate strategy sCore TEN and support consumers in their daily needs in a sustainable way”, says Stefan Doboczky, Chief Executive Officer of the Lenzing Group.

Biodegradable nonwovens for a clean environment

The pollution of the environment by plastics is one of the most urgent problems of our time. Every day, millions of hygiene products and wipes around the globe end up in garbage and sewage. Most of them consist of up to 80 percent polyester or other fossil, non-biodegradable materials and therefore pollute the environment. With the LENZING™ Web Technology, Lenzing has developed a patented technology to counter this problem: Sustainable and eco-friendly nonwovens are produced from the renewable raw material wood. These are not only plastic-free, they also score points for their particularly high environmental friendliness. “Thanks to a unique self-bonding mechanism, in which the filaments bond with each other during the spinning process, binders, which are found in many nonwovens, are no longer needed. As a result, the nonwovens produced with LENZING™ Web Technology are 100 percent biodegradable and do not pollute either humans or the environment”, says Gert Kroner, Vice President Global Research & Development of the Lenzing Group.

The Austrian State Prize for Innovation is awarded annually by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs to the most innovative Austrian company. In 2020, the competition took place for the 40th time.

Retrofitting a wiping robot to spinning systems is well worthwhile. This is confirmed by the experiences of those customers who have already installed the wiping robot. Oerlikon Barmag wiping robots have been cleaning spin packs at filament yarn manufacturing facilities in China and India for several months now, increasing efficiency considerably.

Regular wiping of the spin packs is important for process stability and yarn quality. These can be positively influenced using wiping robots, because – as confirmed by data acquisition and analysis at the respective manufacturing facilities – the yarn break rate can be reduced by up to 30% by automating the wiping process. And the yarn break rate has a direct impact on the key production figures; to this end, a considerable reduction translates into pure profit for yarn manufacturers.

Can also be retrofitted to existing systems
The Oerlikon Barmag wiping robot can be retrofitted to numerous spinning plants. Suspended from a track system mounted on the ceiling, the system automatically and autonomously targets the individual positions in accordance with the scheduled wiping cycles. In addition to the scheduled wiping processes, there are also events that cannot be planned or that are not immediately visible. Depending on the degree of integration into Oerlikon Manmade Fibers Smart Factory solutions, the wiping robot is able to identify issues such as yarn breaks or parallel wiping processes and to independently offer solutions.

The wiping robot operates in a cross-line manner. Here, the wiping quality remains constant 24/7. The high wiping quality has a positive influence on both the stability of the overall process and on the yarn quality. The time saved between cleaning cycles is a further advantage: using the robots, the interval between two wiping processes can be extended by up to 25%. The considerable increase in the spinning process efficiency achieved by the wiping robot also has a positive impact on margins. For example, one customer deploying the wiping robot was able to reduce its production costs for the same yarn by more than 3%.

• Energy efficiency will be the topic of VDMA’s next edition of Textile Machinery Webtalks on 27 August 2020 (2 pm - 4 pm CEST).  

Efficient energy management is of increasing importance in textile dyeing and finishing. Innovative machine designs with minimal water and energy consumption as well as the recovery and use of the heat energy produced in the processes represent valuable potential savings for any modern company.

The presenters at a glance:

• Ludger Sommer, Thies, will show how to manage heat energy in wetprocessing.
• Benjamin Schnabel, Brückner Textilmaschinen is going to demonstrate how to make one of the most energy consuming processes in textile manufacturing more sustainable, eco-friendly and cost effective.
• Fabian Buckenmayer, PLEVA Sensors and Controls will inform about the specific opportunities for an energy-efficient textile production via measuring and controlling process parameters.  

After the presentations, the experts will be available to answer the participants' questions. The webtalk series is very well received by the textile industry. During the first three webtalks, VDMA welcomed almost 900 registered participants from more than 50 countries. Registration is still possible.

In the joint project "AeroFurnace" funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), the consortium, consisting of the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research e.V. (ZAE Bayern) as joint coordinator, the furnace manufacturer FCT Systeme, and SGL Carbon has succeeded in improving the thermal insulation properties of a new composite material by up to 120 percent compared to commercially available felt-based carbon materials. This enabled the project partners to move into a new quality level of thermal insulation in high-temperature industrial applications and pave the way for more energy efficient thermal insulation.

Dr. Gudrun Reichenauer, coordinator of the joint project and head of the work group Nanomaterials at ZAE Bayern: "In this project, we have been able to make the latest findings from the world of nanomaterials accessible to the market through intensive cooperation and thus set new standards in the field of thermal insulation materials."

Dr. Thomas Kirschbaum, project manager at SGL Carbon: "In furnace simulations at the partner FCT, we have already been able to demonstrate what the new material can do: Depending on the temperature program, up to 40 percent of the required process energy can be saved with the new thermal insulation material. The potential of the new material is great." This prediction will be reviewed under real conditions in a demonstrator component in the second half of 2020 as part of the still ongoing BMWi project.

Dr. Jürgen Hennicke, project lead and head of R&D at FCT Systeme: "As a leading manufacturer of industrial vacuum or inert gas high temperature furnaces, the new generation of insulating materials enables us to create furnaces with a more favorable ratio of usable space to external dimensions, thus offering customers improved cost efficiency and productivity".

Based on laboratory samples in plate form it has already been demonstrated that the production of the new material can be represented by technically simple processes and is in principle well scalable. However, there is still a long way to go before the product is ready for serial production.

The third largest share of final energy in Germany is used for the generation of heat in industrial processes (22.6 percent). In many industries, e.g. in the steel and ceramics industry, energy-intensive high-temperature processes run above 1000°C – these alone require almost 50 percent of the industrial process heat. Suitable thermal insulation materials can significantly reduce energy demand while maintaining the same usable volume.

• Specialised in dye-sublimation printing, the Italian company has conquered the heights of the high fashion sector with its top-quality printed fabrics.
• With its recent investment in a direct-to-fabric printing line, Digitak is preparing to expand its range of printed products, focusing on fabric differentiation.

Dye sublimation printing of high fashion designs is the beating heart of Digitak, an Italian company specialised in digital textile printing. Operating in the textile district of Lombardy, Italy, the company has established itself among the main suppliers in the world of high fashion and sportswear in just under 15 years.

Making production versatility one of the cornerstones of its philosophy, Digitak has continued to invest in technology, as well as research and development its product portfolio. This forward-thinking approach has enabled the company to guarantee innovative, personalised products with meticulous attention to detail, with the highest – almost obsessive – standards of quality and maximum design flexibility. Over the years, the extensive experience gained by the company’s management in the field of sublimation with traditional and digital techniques, combined with their investment decisions have allowed Digitak to enhance its production performance, gradually implementing higher quality standards and differentiating itself from the competition in the complex and competitive sector of high fashion. An important feat, which has not, however, dampened its enthusiasm and willingness to continue growing and exceeding its goals. The company’s latest investment in a direct-to-fabric digital printing line with pigment ink propels the company into a new and promising production dimension.

Sublimation printing specialists

Since Digitak’s establishment, Filippo Taccani, the founder and current owner of the company, had set himself a clear and ambitious objective: “I wanted to take up the challenge of operating digitally - printing fabrics using this innovative technology to create products on a par with those  I had achieved with traditional sublimation textile printing methods during my previous work experience.”

The purchase of a Mimaki JV4 plotter, one of the first to be installed in Italy, marked the beginning of Digitak’s adventure. “To start the business, I needed a printing system that could operate with dispersed inks to print on polyester and I found the JV4 to be the best option,” explains Taccani. “It was an excellent decision, because I used these plotters to build the company and its success.”

The first Mimaki plotter was in fact followed by a second and a third. When it bought the fifth, the company moved to an industrial unit in Tradate (Varese) – Digitak’s current site – which now houses around fifteen Mimaki JV33 plotters, in addition to three Mimaki TS500-1800 wide-format sublimation printers, and a Mimaki TS300P-1800 high-speed sublimation printer. This Mimaki powered production facility – which is one of the company’s core strengths – was recently expanded with the addition of a Mimaki TX300P-1800B belt-type hybrid printing system, together with a Mimaki TR300-1850C textile coater and a Mimaki Tiger-1800.

“Naturally, over the years, we have also tested printing systems from other suppliers, but we have always returned to Mimaki. With high fashion as our key market, we need to guarantee our customers the highest levels of quality and, to date, we have never found solutions that beat the quality of this Japanese brand’s technology.”

According to Taccani, the difference lies in the “calligraphy” of Mimaki’s machines, that is the line of the ink on the fabric: “Unlike its competitors, Mimaki has focused on the ‘waveforms’, i.e. the electronics associated with the print heads. This attention paid to the way the ink jet is managed from the print head has allowed Mimaki to achieve unparalleled levels of accuracy, an aspect that has given my company a clear competitive edge.”

Moreover, at Digitak, quality comes before quantity: “We prefer to dedicate an extra day to production to guarantee the customer a final product that fully meets requirements and expectations. Mimaki’s technology not only suits this business model bult on top quality, but it crucially enables it.”

Operational and creative flexibility

Digitak currently prints around 2,000 linear metres of fabric per day. Its portfolio ranges from clothing and scarves, to beach and swimwear, with related personalised accessories, to sportswear, with technical properties such as breathability, comfort, resistance to external agents. The company have even added customised outdoor furniture to their offering of diverse and creative products.
The company’s machines operate continuously, 24/7. During the day, the machines are mainly used to develop and produce samples and colour proofs, while the actual production is carried out at night. “Thanks to our technology, we have developed an extraordinary operational flexibility. The fact that we have so many plotters allows us to work on multiple designs at the same time and to launch projects that are also very different from one another,” explains Taccani. “There are also some other crucial factors that have contributed, and continue to contribute, to increasing our production efficiency. The reliability of Mimaki’s solutions and the remote monitoring option offered is key. Once the standard start-up monitoring has been carried out and the machines are found to be printing correctly, we can let them work overnight without an operator. This is a great benefit for people who, like us, manage such a large and diverse fleet of machines.”

Digitak takes the same approach to customer service. Faced with an increasingly demanding market in terms of creativity, precision and completeness of service, the company wants to guarantee flexibility and customisation. “We decided to set up a department dedicated to the pre-press stage, in charge of preparing and checking the files supplied by customers. Seldom do our teams not need to do some editing of the files supplied, even if it’s only to make small changes that are essential for the print document to be as suitable as possible and to achieve the best final result.”

Technologies of the future

With a view to further enhancing production and customer service, Taccani has chosen to take on a new challenge, switching things up with some of the most recent investments.

While maintaining the focus on dye sublimation printing, Taccani has focused on technological diversification by installing a direct-to-fabric digital printing line. This consists of a Mimaki TX300P-1800B printing system with pigment inks and a TR300-1850C coater from Mimaki’s TR series. “The market continues to evolve and now requires even more flexibility regarding both processes and the fabrics supplied. This means that great opportunities exist for a print shop capable of simultaneously producing the same design – with minimal colour adjustment – on different fabrics, guaranteeing similar and accurate results. And this is precisely the path we are taking,” says Taccani. “Why have we opted for Mimaki again? Well, I had an opportunity to try out their new pigment inks and I immediately realised that they are a generation ahead of the other pigments available on the market. The cyan is very clean, the black is deep and there is a very interesting fullness of colour, suitable not only for furnishings, but also for other applications in the clothing sector.”

With its pigment inks, the new direct-to-fabric printing line allows Digitak to explore other related market segments. Thanks to the innovative automatic belt system, the TX300P-1800B guarantees good productivity and high-quality results. A standard of quality that is also boosted by the TR300-1850C fabric pre-treatment system: “This coater is essential for ensuring the best possible preparation of fabrics for printing. In fact, we are able to treat fabrics to make them suitable for the type of print they are intended for, sanitise them for specific applications and, in some cases, even dye them, with excellent quality.”

According to Taccani, another beneficial factor of direct-to-fabric pigment printing technology is the eco-sustainability of the process and its lower environmental impact. “We are proud to be able to offer our customers excellent printing results using little water and printing in ‘green mode’, with both the technologies we have available. I consider them winning technologies for the future, as both dye sublimation printing and direct-to-fabric printing with pigment inks use little water while mainly requiring the use of energy. Therefore, if you use renewable energy, then you’re done.”

Digitak’s other trump card is the Tiger-1800 installed in 2019. With this industrial printing system, the company aims to increase production volumes while maintaining its high-quality standards and further optimising costs. “We are excited to have these promising technologies available to us in-house. We are currently experimenting with these solutions, testing new opportunities and evaluating which paths to take to stay ahead of the game,” concludes Taccani.

Following its installation at several major yarn manufacturers in China, the first wiping robot has now been operating in India since the end of 2019. As already the case with our Chinese clients, the performance of the Oerlikon Barmag solution there demonstrates the same properties: an even, high-quality wiping process providing considerably reduced yarn break rates and higher full package rates. Regular wiping (cleaning) of the spin packs is important for process stability and yarn quality.

The performance data at the Indian yarn manufacturer was collated and evaluated over a period of three months. The results revealed that the yarn break rate has – regardless of the product – fallen by almost 30%. The former running time breaks have decreased by 10% and string-up breaks by 40%. Consequently, full package rates have risen by 3%, while waste rates have fallen by 0.2%. “Yarn breaks are always an issue; they have a direct impact on the production figures. This is where the wiping robot reveals its added value”, comments Stephan Faulstich, Technology Manager POY. The system automatically and autonomously controls the individual positions in accordance with the scheduled wiping cycles. In addition to the scheduled wiping processes, there are also events that cannot be planned or that are not immediately visible. Here, the wiping robot – as a result of its management functionalities – is able to identify issues such as yarn breaks or parallel wiping processes and to independently offer solutions. The same also applies to manual requests: if another action is simultaneously required here, the system identifies this and offers solutions.

The wiping robot operates in a cross-line manner. In contrast to manual wiping, the cleaning quality remains constant around the clock, considerably reducing the impact of the wiping on both the spinning plant process stability and on the yarn data of the spun yarn. And production times can be increased between two cleaning cycles as well: whereas repeated wiping is required after 48 hours in the case of manual wiping, utilizing the robot extends the interval between two wiping processes to up to 60 hours. The considerable increase in the spinning process efficiency achieved by the wiping robot also has a positive impact on margins. To this end, one customer deploying the wiping robot was able to reduce its production costs for the same yarn by more than 3%.

SGL Carbon and Solvay collaborate to develop highly-competitive advanced carbon fiber composites for aerospace primary structures

SGL Carbon and Solvay have entered into a joint development agreement (JDA) to bring to market the first composite materials based on large-tow intermediate modulus (IM) carbon fiber. These materials, which address the need to reduce costs and CO2 emissions, and improve the production process and fuel efficiency of next-generation commercial aircraft, will be based on SGL Carbon’s large-tow IM carbon fiber and Solvay’s primary structure resin systems.

The agreement encompasses both thermoset and thermoplastic composite technologies. It builds on Solvay’s leadership in supplying advanced materials to the aerospace industry and SGL Carbon’s expertise in high-volume carbon fiber manufacturing.

“For Solvay, this is an opportunity to lead the aerospace adoption of a composite material based on 50K IM carbon fiber. This is a highly competitive value proposition that brings more affordable high-performance solutions to our customers. We see this as the first step in a long-term partnership,” said Augusto Di Donfrancesco, member of Solvay’s executive committee.

“By combining SGL’s carbon fiber expertise in our newly developed, unique 50K IM fiber with Solvay’s resin formulation and aerospace market expertise, both partners are aiming to develop an advanced aerospace material system. This alliance supports our strategic direction and accelerates our growth in the attractive aerospace market,” said Dr. Michael Majerus, spokesman of the management board of SGL Carbon.

Composite materials for aerospace applications represent a multi-billion-dollar market that is expected to grow strongly in the coming decade. Solvay and SGL Carbon are uniquely positioned to develop solutions to address the needs of this market.

Evonik hat eine neue Generation von Polyimidfasern für die steigenden Ansprüche der Industrie entwickelt. Das neue Produkt mit dem Markennamen P84® HT überzeugt durch verbesserte mechanische Stabilität und Flexibilität bei dauerhaften Betriebstemperaturen.  

Die neue Polyimidfaser setzt die drei Jahrzehnte lange Tradition von Evonik an den Standorten in Lenzing und Schörfling (Österreich) in der Entwicklung und Herstellung von kunststoffbasierten Hochleistungsfasern für den Markt der Heißgasfiltration fort.

Die High-Tech-Fasern bieten mit ihrem einzigartigen multilobal geformten Querschnitt und der größten auf dem Markt verfügbaren Oberfläche beste Filtrationseffizienz. Aufgrund ihrer hervorragenden chemischen und physikalischen Eigenschaften können die neuen P84® HT Hochleistungsfasern für eine Vielzahl von Anwendungen eingesetzt werden. Die Bandbreite reicht von Filtermedien für Hochtemperaturfiltration über Schutzkleidung und Dichtungsmaterialien für Raumfahrzeuge bis hin zu verschiedenen Hochtemperaturanwendungen, wie etwa Wärmedämmung.

Ein weiteres Alleinstellungsmerkmal von P84® HT sind die verbesserten textilen Eigenschaften bei hohen Temperaturen. Gegenüber anderen Materialien behält die neue Polyimidfaser von Evonik selbst bei 280°C ihre Flexibilität bei. Dadurch bleibt sie haltbarer in Anwendungen mit höheren Durchschnittstemperaturen und häufigen Temperaturspitzen. Ein standardisierter Biegetest bescheinigt der neuen P84®HT Faser eine beinahe doppelte Flexibilität im Vergleich zu Standardmaterialien.

In Heißgasfiltrationsanwendungen behalten innovative P84® HT Filtermedien eine wesentlich höhere Permeabilität über ihren gesamten Lebenszyklus bei. Dadurch können je nach Anwendungsbereich Feinstaub- oder Abgasemissionen reduziert und Energiekosten gesenkt werden.