EDANA – International Nonwovens Symposium - Stockholm 5th and 6th May 2009

Introduction

The economic climate and the fact that several companies were restricting travel meant that this meeting was less well attended than in previous years.  Nevertheless EDANA reported a total of 200 delegates.

Hydroentangled Spunlaid Nonwovens

Achim Grefenstein, Director of Corporate R&D for RKW (Germany) described their experiences with the world's first spunbond system with on-line hydroentanglement.  The 2-drum HE stage with 2 injectors per drum comes before a thermal bonding calender and can be used as well as or instead of the thermal system.  When HE is used instead of thermal, a belt,  which can also use an injector, transfers the fabric over the calender.  The drums have microperforated metal sheaths rather than wire-mesh to allow greater patterning and aperturing flexibility.  The benefits of HE over thermal bonding of a PP spunlaid web were listed as follows: