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Neumünster, Milan 12-19 November, 2015 - For ITMA 2015 from 12-19 November in Milan, Oerlikon Neumag is paying particular attention to the efficient production of spunbonds for technical applications. The plant manufacturer from Neumünster is presenting new developments for this purpose: in this way, the new generation of spunbond systems is reducing energy consumption by 20 to 30 per cent. Visitors to the trade fair gain an insight in the virtual reality showroom on stand A105 in hall 4.
Today, almost 50 per cent of all nonwoven fabrics are already produced directly from polymer chips – and this proportion is growing. It is true that today the majority is used in hygienic, medical and wipe products. But spunbond and meltblown are on the rise in technical applications and are more and more frequently replacing carded nonwovens thanks to their technical and economic advantages. In home construction, their share is already over 80 per cent, for filter nonwovens over 50 per cent. Also, Geotextile applications are coming.
Polyester is therefore becoming increasingly significant as a raw material for technical spunbond. One reason is that the world market price for the basic material polypropylene, which was used frequently before, is now consistently higher than the price for PET. A second reason is that sustainability, thermal protection, energy consumption and insulation are playing an increasing role for important users such as the construction industry. Polyester nonwovens often satisfy the corresponding requirements with the lowest use of material and without additives. They protect against cooling, only absorb minimum moisture, can be easily used as insulating material, are good for insulation and recyclable, and thus present an alternative to plastic foams, glass wool or mineral wool.
Five per cent raw material saving
For such technical applications, the web strength is very important. The filaments need to have a very high tensile strength and often also allow a high elongation. These properties must be achieved with the lowest possible web-weight and optimized raw material usage, since the cost of raw material for spunbond production amounts to around 75 to 85 per cent of production costs. Benchmark comparisons with current products in Europe showed that with the spunbond technology of Oerlikon Neumag, it was possible to achieve higher web strengths at a comparable web-weight. Conversely, required stabilities can also be achieved with reduced web-weights: the comparisons show a raw material saving of over five per cent.
30 per cent less energy consumption
Low operating costs play an important role in the decision to invest in a modern spunbond system. This is why Oerlikon Neumag has undertaken extensive optimizations, particularly to reduce energy consumption, the second-largest proportion of operating costs. In this way, the new generation of spunbond systems saves almost 20 per cent of the energy requirement in the spinning section compared to former versions. This optimization can make a difference of 30 per cent compared to classic PET spunbond processes. According to company information, in the same comparison it was possible to demonstrate that the conversion costs were also around 20 to 30 per cent lower.
“By focusing on technical applications for our spunbond technology, we have developed comprehensive know-how for entire processes along with the necessary inline processing. Today, we can therefore offer our customers product solutions for many applications meeting their requirements,” says Martin Rademacher, Sales Director Oerlikon Neumag. These include geotextiles, bitumen roofing substrates and roofing underlayment as well as technical products such as carpet backings or filter media. The now considerably extended technical application center in Neumünster is available for demonstrations and customer trials as well as for further development of products and processes.
