Oerlikon Nonwoven to display sustainable systems at IDEA in Miami

With its Phantom platform, Oerlikon Nonwoven offers an innovative co-form technology for manufacturing various wet wipes from pulp and polymer fibres. Here, the spunmelt and airlaid processes are combined in a manner that perfectly unites the properties of the starting materials. The material mix can comprise up to 90 per cent cellulose fibres. Alternatively, cotton or synthetic fibres can also be added, the company said in a press release.

Compared to processes such as classical spunlace (hydroentangled carded nonwovens) produced to date, the patented Phantom technology offers ecological, performance and cost advantages. The sustainable process stands out above all with regards to energy efficiency and water consumption as well as user-friendliness. Dispensing with hydroentanglement renders subsequent drying of the material redundant. Product parameters, such as softness, tenacity, dirt absorption and liquid absorption, can be optimally set. The Phantom technology enables the manufacture of both flexible and absorbent structures and highly-textured materials. 

Pulp or cellulose fibres as raw material for manufacturing nonwovens are currently virtually unrivalled with regards to sustainability and environmental compatibility. The Oerlikon Nonwoven airlaid process is the ideal solution for processing this raw material into high-end products for a wide range of applications. Today, there is huge demand for manufacturing solutions for high-quality, lightweight airlaid nonwovens with economically-attractive production speeds and system throughputs.

Here, the patented Oerlikon Nonwoven formation process is setting standards – for homogeneous fibre laying and superb evenness even for nonwovens with low running meter weights. Furthermore, it permits the homogeneous mixing of the most diverse raw materials, including pulp, short- and long-staple natural and manmade fibres (up to 20 mm) and powders, as well as the utilisation and combination of the most diverse mechanical, thermal and chemical tangling methods for creating the requisite product properties, according to Oerlikon.

Oerlikon Nonwoven’s airlaid technology is also perfectly suited to expanding typical spunlace systems in order to add a cellulose layer to the product that, for example, improves the water absorbency of wipes using a low-cost and biodegradable raw material. For manufacturing hygiene and medical nonwovens, the QSR (Quality Sized Right) technology offers a financially-attractive solution for producing these highly-diverse spunbond and meltblown composites (SSMMS, SMMS, SSS, etc.) in accordance with globally-accepted standards. As a result of intensive collaborations and partnerships, close-knit quality assurance measures and extensive interaction with its technology partners, Oerlikon Nonwoven is able to equip this type of system with unique features that enable producers to distinguish themselves within their respective markets with special nonwoven properties such as higher volumes, softness and customer-specific embossed patterns, for example.

Filter media can be efficiently electrostatically charged with the ecuTEC+ electro-charging unit developed by Oerlikon Nonwoven for increasing the filtration performance of meltblown media without reducing air permeability. It distinguishes itself from other concepts currently available on the market as a result of its extreme flexibility. Users can choose from numerous possible variations and hence set the optimum charge intensity for their respective filter applications.

For industrial nonwovens, Oerlikon Nonwoven systems are capable of high production capacities and yields with simultaneously low energy consumption. To this end, geotextiles made from polypropylene or polyester can be efficiently manufactured with running meter weights of up to 400 g/m2 and filament titers of up to 9 dtex, for example. And Oerlikon Nonwoven also offers specialised spunbond processes for producing nonwoven substrates for roofing underlays (PP or PET spunbonds) and so-called bitumen roofing substrates (needled PET spunbonds) for bitumen roofing membranes.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)