GRAZ - Andritz will present a range of its nonwovens production processes and textile finishing technologies at next month's ITMA Asia + CITME exhibition including the firm's first foray into air-through bonding technology.
On show in hall H2, booth A24 in Shanghai will be a demonstration of the company's latest developments for turnkey and customised solutions for the drylaid, spunjet, thermobonding, and wetlaid sectors, as well as for conversion of absorbent hygiene products.
According to Andritz, air-through bonding lines are the preferred choice for producing nonwovens with the best quality of softness and bulk for acquisition and distribution layers, top sheets, and back-sheet products.
The company's carding machines and the new flat belt oven are designed to help customers benefit from high production capacities and high-performance fabrics from 16 to 80 gsm, produced with bicomponent fibres. Several Chinese customers have already invested in aXcess carding machines, which provide perfect web uniformity. In addition, the CETI (European Center for Innovative Textiles) in Lille, France, has recently installed an air-through bonding oven from Andritz.
Customers are therefore able to compare the technical results obtained from two different options: bonding with the flat belt oven or with the drum - both supplied by Andritz - with the company inviting customers who would like to see the new solution for themselves, to conduct trials at CETI.
Through its aXcess portfolio, Andritz says it offers the full range of drylaid processes for medium production capacities. During the past few months, Chinese spunlace producers have invested in several aXcess lines with direct-line and crosslapped configurations manufactured by Andritz Wuxi. This growing market goes hand in hand, the company says, with new trends such as the development of the facemask industry and continues to be driven by the growth of wipes applications.
In the medium-capacity needlepunch area, Andritz signed a cooperation agreement in 2017 with ShanTou SanFai Nonwoven Machinery, a major supplier of needlelooms in China. "This cooperation is aimed at uniting the advantages of proven technologies and providing reliable solutions for a wide range of applications in the needlepunch industry," Andritz says, adding that the aXcess range for web forming and SanFai’s needlelooms offer a significant advantage in terms of investment security, innovation, and quality.
For visitors from the calendering sector, Andritz will showcase its new teXcal raconip calender which is described as "versatile, operator friendly, and provides IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) features for a smart production process."
The teXcal raconip calender uses sensors to collect and archive all machine data and which is sent to a monitoring system. This intelligent production equipment offers a transparent and optimized process as well as a forecast for maintenance planning. In addition, the calender includes an optimized, deflection-controlled roll with unrestricted profiling possibilities over the entire roll width. This, says the company, ensures maximum production flexibility and reproducible product properties – e.g. absolute flatness and ideal air permeability for technical textiles.
